Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Higgins for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, who regrets that he cannot be here.

I emphasise the commitment of both the Minister and the Government to the agri-environment schemes operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The schemes put environmentally friendly farming to the forefront and they recognise the vital role farmers play in delivering public goods and protecting the environment and the natural heritage for the benefit of society as a whole. This commitment is evident in the fact that more than ¤750 million was spent by the Department on agri-environment schemes in the last three years alone and also in the fact that, despite the financial pressures facing his Department, the Minister made a further ¤200 million available in 2013 under the rural environment protection scheme and the agri-environment options scheme, commonly known as AEOS.

REPS, which was the first of the agri-environment schemes, was introduced in 1994 to promote ways of using agricultural land which are compatible with the protection and improvement of the environment, biodiversity, the landscape and its features, climate change, natural resources, water quality, the soil and genetic diversity. Currently there are just under 30,000 participants in REPS and their contracts will continue until expiry of the five-year contract period in each case. AEOS, which is the successor to REPS, is a more targeted agri-environment scheme for which funding is provided from modulation funds under the Common Agricultural Policy health check. Not only is it mandatory to spend the modulated funds on the so-called new challenges but the EU regulation also stipulates the type of actions to be funded and the kinds of effects that are required to be achieved in dealing with those challenges. This Government's commitment is also illustrated by the fact that, despite serious budgetary pressures, AEOS was reopened again last year.

The Government commitment is also illustrated by the fact that, despite serious budgetary pressures, AEOS was re-opened again last year. Given the background of serious economic and budgetary constraints, the Minister's decision to re-open the scheme in 2012 was a very challenging one and involved very difficult choices.

As the House will be aware, AEOS, as currently framed, specifically targets three challenges that have been assigned the highest priority at EU level as needing urgent action. These are: halting the loss of biodiversity; contributing to the improvement of water quality; and combating climate change. The format of AEOS is a menu-type approach, as distinct from the whole-farm perspective, consisting of actions which can be demonstrably linked to those three important challenges. The range or menu of individual measures available to farmers include traditional hay meadows in the case of biodiversity, riparian margins in the case of water quality, and minimum tillage practices in the case of climate change.

There are currently approximately 15,000 participants in AEOS 1 and 2, which were opened to new participants in 2011 and 2012. The scheme builds on the important environmental work that commenced with REPS in 1994 and will go some way towards addressing the serious challenges of sustainability and conservation which we face. The Minister is very conscious of the number of farmers who have left REPS and who are anxious to continue to participate in an agri-environment scheme, hence the re-opening of AEOS late last year with an annual budget of ¤20 million.

Both the REPS and AEOS schemes operated by the Department provide support for breeds in danger of being lost to farming, including Galway sheep. Under schemes 1 and 2, a total of 541 farmers have selected the rare breed measure, declaring between them a total of 2,250 livestock units. The rate of payment is ¤200 per livestock unit of the breed per annum and evidence of the registration of the animals claimed with the relevant breed society is required. Payment is made retrospectively, after the livestock units on the holding have been verified in respect of the claim year.

As the Senator is no doubt aware, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, recently announced the re-opening of AEOS to new applicants and approximately 9,500 applications were received by the Department by the 7 December 2012 closing date. The initial processing of the applications has been completed and acknowledgement letters have issued to all applicants. The detailed actions listed in each application will now be recorded and all applications will be ranked and selected according to the predetermined selection criteria. It is expected that just over 6,000 farmers will be successful in this process and they will be awarded contracts of just over five and a half years. As under previous AEOS schemes, Galway sheep will be considered eligible for support and it is expected that ranking and selection will take place in the second quarter of 2013 when letters will issue to all applicants informing them of the outcome.