Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the students from Ballyhaunis, Cloonfad, Garranlahan, Ballinlough and several areas in County Roscommon.

When the programme for Government was being put together there was great talk about a rural environment protection scheme, REPS, 2 scheme for farmers. A large part of the carbon budget was supposed to go towards that. I have talked to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine many a time about this. I have gone to marts when it has not been popular for Opposition Deputies to stand up and to agree with a new policy in the line of the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, the areas of natural constraint, ANC, policy or the new organic payment that is coming out.

The new agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, payment, however, appears to be a problem. Over the weekend I was inundated with calls from planners who were given a draft, had an information day and were told that would be it and that this is what we are going on. I will give the Taoiseach an example. If you did 2 ha in a riparian zone, you got €3,000. Lo and behold, all those planners who had done out the new plan for farmers, because they were trying to get ahead of the posse, ended up being told Friday evening, sorry but it is being cut to 1 ha at €1,530. I am not blaming the Minister for this, and we know the debacle that went on in forestry, but, funnily enough, the hierarchy in forestry seems to be the same hierarchy for this environmental scheme. There are two years to prepare for it at the moment. The generic land-mapping system is giving trouble. The whole basis of where we are going in this scheme is very hard for a smaller farmer on 30, 40 or 50 acres, whom the scheme should be targeted at to make sure we get as many people in as possible. I know there is talk of 30,000 people going into the scheme but, at the moment, unless, first of all, the final spec is given to planners, there will be a serious difficulty. I am not imagining this. I got it in the ear all weekend. Second, the deadline needs to be extended to at least the end of November. Third, we need to rejig whatever went out on Friday evening on the riparian zone. We also need to make the scheme more workable for the 30, 40 or 50 acre farmer. Will the Taoiseach, along with his Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as a Government, make this as workable as we can for those smaller farmers and come clean to the planners who are at it at the moment? What has happened is that plans are done out already and now they have to be changed again since last Friday evening. When you ring Paddy and tell him he was getting €3,000 but now is getting €1,530, the Taoiseach knows what he will get on the phone from those planners. Will the Government look at this?

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