Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I want to voice the concerns of 33 landowners who farm the Killerry Mountain on the Sligo-Leitrim border and to request an urgent investigation into the current position as to why the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is only partially paying basic payment scheme, BPS, and areas of natural constraints, ANC, payments to these farmers. There are up to 1,000 ha of commonage on the mountain in which 33 farmers have shares. These landowners are being penalised following a major gorse fire which started on 3 May last year. It took 32 hours to quell the fire which spread over 4,000 ha of outstanding beauty. Four fire brigades from Sligo and two from Leitrim dealt with the fire, assisted by the Coast Guard as well as fire officers from Donegal and local farmers who alerted the fire services in the first place. The commonage shareholders also made every effort to get the fire extinguished.

Payments for 2017 were withheld from the farmers until Christmas week. Most of them received very little with some losing out between €4,000 and €10,000. I first contacted the Minister on this issue in November 2017. I did not receive an acknowledgement from his office at the time. Unfortunately, a substantive response from the Minister is still pending. Information was obtained through individual representations to the Department on behalf of the farmers regarding their payments.

In early December, I was advised by the Department that it actively investigates incidents of illegal burning using satellite imagery. Land burned between the period of 1 March and 31 August of any given year is not eligible for payment under the BPS. The Department informed me that to qualify for payment under the BPS, an application must have an eligible hectare of land in respect of each entitlement held. It also stated that, with respect to the farmers in Killerry Mountain, the lands in their BPS applications had been identified as having been burned outside the permitted timeframe and, accordingly, such lands would not be eligible for the purpose of the BPS payment which has created an overclaim on the BPS applications.

These farmers have been written to by the Department outlining the current position with regard to their BPS applications and setting out the options available to them on the overclaim parts, including the right to seek a review. The correspondence stated where land has been burned that is not suitable for agricultural activities, such as grazing or cultivation, it is, therefore, not eligible. It was apparent during the closed season for burning that there was widespread burning vegetation, according to the Department. It confirmed by press release on 17 May that it was investigating the illegal burning of lands. It also stated farmers who included illegally burned land in their 2017 BPS applications should remove the land, and that inclusion of same would result in reduced payments and penalties under the scheme.

All of the farmers, individually and collectively, do not accept this and are seeking an urgent appeal. If this decision is not overturned, it could affect the farmers' payments for three to four years until the grass regrows. That is not acceptable. What is the current status of the investigation? Will the Minister provide the House and the landowners with an update?

There is much access to the mountain for walkers and campers, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly how the fire started. In excess of 60 gorse fires occurred between March and May of last year, according to the Irish Wildlife Trust. It was unseasonably warm and dry in the region in question during that particular time. To be honest, it was the only bit of summer we got. It is completely unfair to penalise the farmers in question or to assume they had any part in starting the gorse fires.

The Sligo Way is a waymarked long-distance walking route which starts at Lough Talt on the Sligo-Mayo border, continues along the line of the Ox Mountains for approximately 80 km, and ends at Dromahair, County Leitrim. Some of the property traversed by the Sligo Way is private property. Access is available by kind permission of all the landowners and farmers on the route. Persons entering by permission do so with the consent of the landowners. No matter how often they enter or in what numbers, they do not so as of right. Up to 60 people a day could access this walkway with 5 km of it spanning across the commonage land in question. After the fire, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring, gave a €54,000 grant to repair some of the stands along the walkway. In May 2017, the Sligo Camino attracted 600 walkers from 25 counties to walk the 25 km route.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Has the Minister of State ever walked the Sligo Camino?

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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It is on my bucket list. I welcome the opportunity to address this matter on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed. I hope the Deputy will accept the Minister's apologies for not being able to take it in person.

The range of schemes available to farmers, such as the BPS, greening and the ANC scheme are vital supports which help to underpin the continued development of a competitive and sustainable agrifood sector. These payments also provide a significant financial boost for individual farmers and the wider rural economy. It must also be noted that under EU regulations, all applications under the BPS and ANC scheme are subject to robust administrative checks prior to payment. Only valid applications under the BPS and ANC which fully comply with the requirements of the EU legislation are paid. The main element of these administrative checks is an area assessment. This is achieved by using the detailed database of individual land parcels known as the land parcel identification system, LPIS, which currently records electronically more than 1 million individual land parcels. It is essential it is up to date and accurate.

Ineligible features, such as buildings, rock, scrub, land burned between March and 31 August, bog lands unfit for grazing or lakes, are excluded from payment. The integrity of the Department's LPIS and payment system is subject to frequent audit by the EU authorities. Any weaknesses in the system, such as failure to detect ineligible land parcels, leaves Ireland exposed to serious financial penalties which can run to tens of millions of euros. We recently had to pay €60 million in a disallowance and further audits are now under way.

With regard to the BPS and greening payment, advance payments began issuing on 16 October 2017. This is the earliest that payments can commence for these schemes under the governing EU regulations. It is worth noting that Ireland is among the earliest in the European Union to pay the BPS. In addition, the level of the advance payment was, following contact with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, set at 70% for 2017 rather than the normal 50%.

On 16 October 2017, BPS payments worth some €700 million were issued to 111,000 farmers. Regular payments have continued since then, including 30% balancing payments delivered on 1 December. To date, in excess of 122,000 farmers, representing 99% of eligible applicants, have received payments amounting to more than €1.05 billion. ANC scheme payments commenced on schedule on 20 September 2017. Payments totalling €200 million have been made to in excess of 93,500 farmers. The Department has been effective in issuing payments to farmers amounting in total under the BPS and the ANC scheme to €1.25 billion over the past four months.

Moving to the question of land eligibility, applicants under BPS are paid annually on the basis of the number of entitlements held with the requirement to have an eligible hectare of agricultural land per entitlement. In this context, an eligible hectare is land that is used for an agricultural activity. Ineligible features, such as buildings, rock, scrub, land burned between 1 March and 31 August, bog lands unfit for grazing, lakes etc., are excluded from payment.

Where land has been burned, it is not in a state suitable for an agricultural activity such as grazing or cultivation and, therefore, it is not eligible, except where controlled burning is carried out. It is specified in the 2017 BPS terms and conditions that under section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976, as amended by the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000, growing vegetation cannot be burned between 1 March and 31 August of any given year on any land not yet cultivated. These terms and conditions were circulated to all farmers in early March 2017.

It was apparent during the closed season for burning in 2017 that there was widespread burning of vegetation. Accordingly the Department confirmed via press release on 17 May that it was investigating the illegal burning of land. It was also publicised that such land is not eligible for payment under the BPS and other area-based schemes. Farmers were also advised that if they had included illegally burned land in their 2017 BPS application already submitted to the Department, they should remove this land by means of submitting an amendment form. Inclusion of illegally burned land in the 2017 BPS application could result in reduced payment and penalties under this scheme and the other area-based schemes.

The Department actively investigated incidents of illegal burning using the most up-to-date technology and satellite imagery. During that investigation, the Department identified lands that were included in some 2017 BPS applications, including by farmers on the commonage mentioned by the Deputy, which have been subject to burning after the permitted timeframe and would, therefore, be deemed ineligible for payment under the 2017 BPS.

Accordingly, overclaims arose as the area declared in the 2017 applications by a number of these applicants was greater than the maximum eligible area of the parcels determined by the Department.

Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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There were 80 burnings on mountains during 2017. These farmers kindly gave permission to have this walkway put in place, supported by Sligo Leader, Sligo County Council and Leitrim County Council. After that, last April or May, there were three or four weeks of good weather. It was the only summer we got. One could not burn land since then because one would not be able to light it because it was raining. These farmers are being victimised. None of them started the fire and they have sworn affidavits relating to that too. Some 600 people walked the Camino trail that weekend. I asked a farmer today how many people use the stretch of trail here. Some 60 people a day walk that particular stretch across the Killery Mountain because it is beautiful countryside. I do not think any of those walkers, because they respect the rural areas, would start a fire deliberately and no farmer would start a fire deliberately outside the burning time. It was probably an accident where a cigarette butt, a bit of glass or whatever else started that fire. These farmers are now being heavily penalised for something they did not do. It is affecting them and their families. It is an area with poor quality land and this penalty affects not only the land on the mountain that they have lost because of fire but also the lowlands they have. The Department should make a case relating to this. I know it will not stop here because these farmers have taken advice on this and will push it as far as they can.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I will pass that on to the Minister, Deputy Creed. The Department has processed the 2017 applications concerned, for these farmers, based on the reduced area on the over-claimed parcel and has made payments accordingly. There has been some payout. The applicants have been written to by the Department outlining the current position in regard to their BPS applications and setting out the options available relating to the over-claimed parcels, including the right to seek a review. Some have done that. The details of the parcels concerned were outlined on the maps sent to the applicants. A number of farmers on the Killery commonage have been included in this process. Should the applicants concerned seek a review, they have been advised to submit any supporting documentation which they deem relevant for review by the Department. As the Deputy mentioned, a number of appeals have been received. These appeals are being reviewed and the applicants concerned will be contacted directly about the outcome of their appeals. I do not have the information to hand about the result of that but I am sure the Department will take on board the information.

It is the Minister, Deputy Creed’s top priority to make the highest level of annual payment possible to the most farmers on the earliest date possible in accordance with EU legislation. Unfortunately, some farmers submitted lands for payment that had been burned during the closed season for burning and payment was not made on such land. The Deputy mentioned those farmers and the reasons for whatever happened to the land are probably being investigated. The farmers in the Killery commonage have been written to. It is open to them to submit appeals, which will be dealt with by the Department as a matter of urgency. I ask that the Deputy encourage any of those who have not made an appeal to do so. The Minister, Deputy Creed, made that clear. Some have but not all. They have been paid on the balance of their applications. The lands concerned, will, all other things being equal, be eligible for payment under the BPS in 2018. I will make it clear to all involved that the burning issue relates to one year only. Provided nothing else changes, that land is also eligible for this year, 2018, and it will be important for farmers to get that in order. I will mention the urgency with which decisions on these appeals need to be made.