Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)

Apologies. I did not answer two of the Senator's earlier questions. One was on appeals and the other was on splitting the parcel. Farmers can split the parcel if there is a natural boundary like a wall or hedge in an existing land parcel. They can just do that on the application. There will be an appeals mechanism. Most farmers will not need to appeal this. It will not change their day-to-day activity. I can understand why there is confusion. I can understand how scarred and concerned people are around nature restoration and land designation. This is not that.GAEC 2 is not that. It is a baseline conditionality of just the single farm payment when you apply. My Department consulted the relevant stakeholders and NGOs on the proposed standards. Once approval of the standard was received from the Commission, we wrote to farmers straight away. My Department provided direct information to the farm advisory services. Most farmers are putting in this application in consultation with their advisers. The advisers have been briefed. We had meetings with public and private advisory services to ensure requirements are fully understood. My officials attended a number of public meetings where concerns were raised. My Department officials continue to attend local meetings and we will continue to answer farmers' questions.

As I outlined, the standard will have minimal impact on day-to-day operations of farms beyond what is already legally required anyway. There is no opportunity to further delay the introduction of GAEC 2. To do so would put us in breach with no defensible case to the Commission and would leave us open to significant fines which would come out of the pot of money I have to support farmers. I cannot let that happen because I would then have less money to support our farmers day to day. I reassure farmers about GAEC 2. Farmers down the line will not face loads of fines because day-to day activity will not change.