Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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626. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will reconsider a decision to disallow a person (details supplied) from the agri environment option scheme 3 having considered the grounds of appeal submitted by the applicant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36762/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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An application under the Agri-Environment Options Scheme from the person named was received in my Department on 7 December 2012. The process of ranking and selecting all AEOS applicants was clearly set out in the scheme documentation. Acceptance into the scheme was established using the pre-determined selection criteria as follows:

1. farmers in the Boora region of Co. Offaly who chose Wild Bird Cover Option B (Grey Partridge) as one of their selected options,

2. farmers with a minimum of 0.5 hectares of designated land,

3. farm partnerships,

4. farmers who previously participated in REPS commencing with smallest farms. and

5. others based on farm size (again favouring smaller holdings).

The person named was a previous participant in REPS. Based on the funding available farmers in category 4 with 22.06 hectares of utilisable agricultural area and below were successful. As the farm size of the person named is 83.28, the application was unsuccessful. On 27 May 2013, a letter issued to the person named informing him that he was not successful and setting out the reasons. The person was also informed of his right of appeal to AEOS Section. An appeal was received from the person named and it is currently being considered. The person named will be notified in writing of the outcome of this appeal once a decision has been made.