Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the volume of entitlements surrendered by farmers to the national reserve arising from the reduction in the area of land submitted with their single farm payment application; if he is satisfied with the legal basis under which the State assumes ownership of these entitlements if they have not been disposed of by the individual applicants; if he will consider extending the deadline to the end of May whereby farmers can arrange to dispose of these entitlements privately similar to the provision wherein farmers can, up to the end of May amend their details in their single farm payment application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11103/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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No entitlements have been surrendered to the National Reserve in 2010 as a result of the review of the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS).

Under EU regulations entitlements must be used at least one year out of every two years. "Used" in this context means that the farmer must declare one hectare of eligible land for each entitlement held. The vast majority of Irish farmers hold one set of entitlements of equal value. In these cases the usage of entitlements is rotated each year so that entitlements not used in year one of the cycle will be deemed to have been used in year two and so on. Under this arrangement a farmer holding only one set of entitlements will never surrender any entitlements to the National Reserve provided he can declare, each year, a number of eligible hectares at least equal to 50% of the number of entitlement held. Where a farmer holds two or more sets of entitlements of different values the pre-printed Single Payment application which issues each year will identify those entitlements that will be lost to the National Reserve if not used in that year. The farmer then has the opportunity of changing the payment order of his entitlements so as to avoid losing any entitlements to the National Reserve.

Where a farmer does not change the payment order of his entitlements the higher value entitlements will automatically be used first. Where a farmer holds a number of entitlements in excess of the number of eligible hectares available to him he has the option of transferring the excess entitlements by sale/gift or, alternatively, he can acquire extra eligible land by way of lease/rent/purchase.

Under EU Regulations, payment entitlements may only be declared for payment once per year by the farmer who holds them at the latest date for lodging the Single Payment application which, for 2011, is 16 May 2011.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork was unsuccessful in their application to the national reserve for entitlements; if he will review the eligibility criteria as they relate to off farm income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11107/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The person named submitted applications under the new entrant category of both the 2009 and 2010 National Reserve.

The 2009 National Reserve had a closing date of 15th May 2009. As the 2009 National Reserve application was only received on 12 February 2010 it was rejected as a late application. However, the person named was invited to apply for the 2010 National Reserve and an application form was sent to him.

Under the 2010 National Reserve the person named applied under Category B. This category caters for farmers who commenced farming after 15 May 2008. In addition, applicants under this category are also required to meet certain criteria with regard to income limits and educational qualifications. With regard to the income limits applicants are given a choice of two years either year end 31 December 2008 or 31 December 2009. In addition the off-farm income cannot exceed the upper limit of €30,000.

The person named submitted a P60 for year end 31 December 2009 and when PAYE and PRSI were deducted his off-farm income was calculated at €34,485 which still exceeded the upper limit of €30,000. The person named was notified of this decision and given the right to appeal this decision to the Independent Single Payment Appeals Committee. To date no appeal has been submitted.

The eligibility criteria for the 2010 National Reserve was agreed following a meeting of the Single Payment Advisory Committee which comprises of members of the farming organisations along with officials from my Department and a Teagasc representative. The off-farm income limits have been in place for a number of years and there are no plans to revise the existing arrangements.