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

My approach is to ensure everyone who wants to participate in GLAS will have the opportunity to do so and that the scheme is flexible enough to respond to different types of farming, whether it be in Connemara, east Cork, the midlands or County Donegal.

We have listened to what farmers say. Hill farmers in commonage areas, predominantly in the west - particularly in parts of Counties Galway, Mayo and Donegal - have expressed concerns and we have listened. I met hill farmers from the region recently with Deputy Seán Kyne, who, along with other Deputies, has been hugely vocal on this issue. We are trying to resolve the problems and we have had some success. In the past three weeks we have spoken to the European Commission about accommodating this issue for commonage farmers. We have dealt with concerns relating to Pillar 1 payments, so farmers in commonage are not now required to have a certain stocking level to get payments, and this is a huge step forward. We have argued that commonage farmers should be able to apply in their own right rather than organise collective agreement beforehand, and we think this will be facilitated. We examined a requirement that 50% of active farmers on a commonage would have to be involved in GLAS, but we are now trying to negotiate this as a guideline rather than a requirement. If farmers cannot agree on a planner to put in place a collective GLAS commonage plan, as some farmers believe will be the case, the Department will appoint a planner from a list of approved people.

We are addressing all of the issues, including the matter of 50% agreement on GLAS, the possibility of applying on an individual basis, the seeking of extra time to allow commonage farmers access and the appointment of planners to put collective GLAS commonage plans in place. We are making progress with the Commission on all of these issues and we will get a conclusion that will allow for a practical solution for commonage farmers. We are listening to farmers and working with them to achieve an outcome that suits the Commission's audit system, can be implemented on time by the Department and, most important, is workable for farmers in commonage and non-commonage areas. I am asking for a little time to get the deal done and achieve a reasonable outcome.

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