Additional information not given on the floor of the House

All approved applicants have been accepted with a commencement date of 1 May 2013. The new contracts will run for a period of five years and eight months, which will extend their duration beyond the expiry of the current programme period of 31 December 2013. Participants in the scheme will be offered the opportunity to adjust their commitments for the remainder of the period of their contract to the legal framework of the new programme period. The policy framework that will apply in the next period is under discussion at EU level. If such an adjustment is not acceptable to the participant, he or she may withdraw from the schemes without any requirement for reimbursement of aid already received.

A total of 4,483 applicants selecting grey partridge, Natura and commonage actions were approved for the scheme and the remaining 1,517 applicants selected had all previously participated in REPS and had a reference area of 22.06 ha. or less on their 2012 single payment scheme application. The table sets out the number of persons in each county who were recently approved to participate in the agri-environment options scheme.

Approvals to participate in AEOS, May 2013

CountyTotalCarlow25Cavan139Clare357Cork317Donegal1061Dublin5Galway1007Kerry619Kildare16Kilkenny31Laois26Leitrim279Limerick116Longford42Louth23Mayo997Meath32Monaghan68Offaly68Roscommon275Sligo220Tipperary92Waterford54Westmeath58Wexford27Wicklow46Total6000

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