Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I said to the House yesterday, there is no law or regulation prohibiting farmers from cutting hay before 1 July. The traditional hay meadow aspect of the GLAS scheme is voluntary and farmers opt into it. It is a voluntary action and it is part of the voluntary scheme. If farmers choose this action, they are compensated at a rate of €315 per ha, up to a maximum of 10 ha. The farmers can opt out of it if they so wish.

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