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

I thank the Deputy for asking the question because it gives me the opportunity to clarify a number of matters. I know Deputy Ó Cuív asked the question earlier.

For the second tranche of GLAS, which I intend to launch next week, I have revisited the various actions that will be available to farmers in the light of the substantial progress made to date. GLAS differs from previous schemes in that it adopts a very targeted approach to meeting its environmental objectives and the RDP includes a provision for review and reassessment after the first tranche. Not all the actions which have met or exceeded targets require to be adjusted, given that the associated spend is in many cases relatively easily accommodated in within the total budget.

However, given the very high uptake of low input permanent pasture, it is proposed to adjust the provision of this action under the next tranche. It will still be possible to take up to 10 ha of either low input permanent pasture or traditional hay meadow as before, but the low input permanent pasture component will be limited to 5 ha. The average application for low input permanent pasture so far has been about 7.5 ha, so we will reduce that slightly. While this means that we will still see permanent pasture coming into GLAS, I hope it will encourage more farmers to take the hay meadow option, which is well behind target, and which delivers the same payment per hectare.

I am proposing to suspend the planting of new hedgerows for the second tranche, along with the planting of traditional orchards. Both actions have met their targets for the entire RDP, and there are concerns about the availability of planting stock. I will, however, review this in the third tranche. Most of the concern I have heard is about the planting of hedgerows.

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