John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will detail the way the calculation is made for determining the area base for persons with mountain acreage for the purpose of the single farm payment. [43826/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As a general principle, under the Single Payment Scheme, the general rules for determining eligible areas, which are set out below, apply also to mountain acreage.

In order for farmers to draw down payment in respect of their SPS entitlements, they are required to have an “eligible hectare” to accompany each payment entitlement held by them. The conditions governing the eligibility of land are outlined clearly by my Department in the Terms and Condition of the Scheme. In this context, an “eligible hectare” is land that is used for an agricultural activity and includes land used to grow cereals, oilseeds, short rotation coppice, miscanthus sinensis, protein crops, sugar beet, maize, fodder beet, turnips, mangolds, kale, vegetables, potatoes, grass for silage or hay or grazing. REPS areas such as newly created habitats under option 4a of REPS 3 and REPS 4, areas under linnet and riparian zones are also eligible for SPS.

For land to be eligible, a number of further conditions have to be complied with, namely:

- The land must be used and managed by the applicant. The land must be suitable for and compatible with the farming enterprise;

- There must be independent and suitable access for animals and/or machinery. Independent access means access by public or private roadway or by a defined right of way. Access over adjoining landowners land, or over land which is subject to a lease or rental agreement to another person, is not acceptable;

- There must be appropriate fencing for the farming enterprise. Appropriate fencing means stockproof fencing that will control the applicant’s animals and also the neighbouring farmer’s animals. In mountain/hill areas this generally means sheep fencing;

- There must be defined external boundaries except in the case of commonage;

- If at inspection the applicant claims to be farming the land with animals then the type of animals must be appropriate to the land and there must be appropriate handling facilities available to meet the animals’ welfare requirements.

- The releasing of animals onto a parcel without conducting the normal husbandry and welfare practices throughout the year does not satisfy the requirement of an agricultural activity and will be deemed to be in breach of Article 30 of Council Regulation 73/2009

- There must be evidence of an agricultural activity being conducted throughout the parcel, otherwise the unused part of the parcel may be found to be ineligible. This can arise where the stocking rate is too low.