Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the committee for doing a great deal of work on this issue. It is unfortunate that there are no Opposition spokespersons or Members present, although I see that one Independent Deputy has just entered the Chamber. It would be helpful if Opposition spokespersons who have asked questions in respect of commonage areas and who have sought to understand the Government's approach to the matter were here, particularly as there are many positive things to say. From the perspective of my party and that of the Government, commonage farming is a big priority. We want to ensure that commonages will be looked after into the future and that they will be managed primarily by farmers' actually farming them, which is the best way - from the point of view of the environment, biodiversity and the need to retain people on the land in rural areas - to proceed in respect of them. We are very serious about achieving our goals in this regard in the immediate, medium and long term.

Commonage lands form an important part of the farming enterprises of many farmers, particularly along the west coast. They also form an important part of the local environment from the point of view of biodiversity, wildlife, amenities and economic returns - for example, from tourism. There is a substantial risk of land abandonment as under-grazing becomes more of a problem. Under-grazing leads to an increase in ineligible land under direct aid and agri-environment schemes and to the risk of imposition of financial corrections by the European Commission. The farming of commonage lands has a long tradition in Ireland. It is, by its very nature, a complex area. There are issues about the legal right to claim and there have always been disputes with regard to the grazing relating to commonages. In the vast majority of cases, however, commonage shareholders work well together on a co-operative basis.

The experience since the single farm payment was introduced in 2005 is that there is a growing problem of commonage land being abandoned by farmers. This is not good for the environment because these areas lose the specific characteristics as natural habitats for flora and fauna. In addition, the creeping ineligibility of these lands under the single farm payment scheme and other direct payment schemes poses a significant risk to the State in view of the risk of the imposition of financial corrections by the European Commission. There was also a need to replace the now outdated and no longer valid commonage grazing destocking plans, which were drawn up in the late 1990s to deal with the then over-grazing problem arising from the number of sheep maintained on the hills in order to maximise farmers' payments under the coupled ewe premium scheme.

It has been made clear that the intention is to achieve this by working with the farmers directly managing their lands and working with relevant agencies as well as the farming organisations and all other interested stakeholders. It will not be an easy task but it is achievable if we work together on a co-operative basis.

Each year approximately 4.7 million hectares of eligible land is declared by applicants under the direct aid and agri-environment schemes. Of that area, in excess of 330,000 ha of commonage lands have been declared, representing 7% of the total area declared. In 2012, almost 15,000 applicants declared commonage lands, equivalent to approximately 11% of scheme applicants.

Commonage lands in Ireland are mainly situated along the western coast, particularly in Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Kerry. The area of commonage lands in these counties is set out as follows and comprises almost 71% of the total commonage land declared: Mayo, 84,000 ha; Kerry, 54,000 ha; Donegal, 51,000 ha; and Galway, 45,000 ha. Commonage lands include upland and lowland grazing habitats. These lands have been used mainly for the maintenance of sheep flocks. Cattle are also grazed in some commonages, as are other animals such as Kerry bog ponies and Connemara ponies. Such traditional farming methods will be catered for in the outcome of any process.

At present, commonage lands in Ireland can benefit from aid payments under the single payment scheme, the disadvantaged areas scheme, the grassland sheep scheme, the rural environment protection scheme or the agri-environment options scheme. In many cases, farmers are benefiting from four payments for the same area of commonage lands, namely, the SPS, the DAS, the GSS and REPS or AEOS. The funding for these schemes comes from Pillar 1 or Pillar 2 of the Common Agricultural Policy. A primary requirement of EU regulations governing these schemes is that the lands benefiting from aid are maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition. While over-grazing is still an issue in some known areas, the main problem facing us now is the under-grazing of commonages. A variety of factors have led to the development of this problem. One was the introduction of decoupled payments in 2005, when we went from one extreme in some areas to the opposite - that is to say, there were too many sheep and now there are too few, although the profile has been improving somewhat in recent years. The age profile of farmers with commonage lands is also an issue. Low market returns resulting in reduced livestock numbers has been a factor. More attractive returns from off-farm income during the Celtic tiger era made a major difference, but obviously that has changed somewhat in the past seven years.

Under the reformed CAP regime, which was agreed during the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, it was decided that direct payments should be more focused on active farmers. In this regard, it will be necessary for all farmers who apply for aid under the basic payment scheme to have an agricultural activity on each land parcel for which they are claiming aid. In the case of marginal land, including commonages, this can only be achieved by grazing that land. Member states are obliged to set requirements for the maintenance of such lands.

I have decided to set a relatively modest requirement under the Pillar 1 schemes and under the areas of natural constraint scheme - what farmers know as the DAS - for maintaining marginal land. The grazing requirement, which must be met by all applicants under the basic payment scheme, is fixed at one ewe per one and a half hectares. A lower level will be set for commonages where it is necessary from an environmental point of view. Blanket bogs are an example of such sensitive commonages. To provide flexibility for farmers who benefit from payments for commonage lands that they claim but do not graze for commonage, I decided that such applicants had until December 2015 to obtain the animals for grazing the commonage. In other words, they have plenty of time to introduce a modest stocking level on the lands that they are farming.

With a view to having a system to meet the requirements of the basic payment and areas of natural constraint schemes, which will be implemented in 2015, my Department will be writing to all commonage claimants in the coming weeks setting out individual grazing requirements for marginal lands. The claimants will have the right to submit an assessment by a professional planner providing alternative figures if they consider that the figures provided would not meet the requirements of their commonage.

As I have already stated, the only way to manage the vast majority of commonages, whether upland or lowland commonages, is to graze them. The status quois no longer an option in some areas. If action is not taken now the areas will continue to deteriorate, which will lead to more land abandonment. If this is allowed to happen we will lose a valuable resource from the point of view of farming, the rural economy, biodiversity and wildlife. Grazing is the only method of managing much of this land.

The eligibility requirements will not be achieved unless farmers actually manage these lands and are given a role in this regard. They have the knowledge and are aware of the most effective methods in their areas, which they understand best.

It is worth noting, especially given recent public commentary and debates, that, currently, farmers with commonages receive €97 million in the single farm payment scheme each year. Under convergence as part of the new Common Agricultural Policy, a total of 12,000 of the 15,000 commonage farmers will benefit.

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