Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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626. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if farmers in an area (details supplied) in County Kerry will be allowed to use horses for the purpose of claiming entitlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55288/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In order to make the necessary savings, following the reduction in the budget for the 2012 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, technical adjustments were introduced to the Scheme criteria to ensure that the aid payment was focused on farmers whose farming enterprises are situated exclusively in DAS areas and who are making a significant contribution to achieving the objectives of the Scheme, which are defined in the governing EU legislation as follows:

- To ensure continued agricultural land use and thereby contribute to the maintenance of a viable rural community;

- To maintain the countryside;

- To maintain and promote sustainable farming systems which, in particular, take account of environmental protection measures.

While horses are no longer be eligible for the stocking density calculation, equine breeding enterprises continued to be eligible on the basis of the contribution they make to the local economy. Equine breeding enterprises are defined as follows: under the 2013 Scheme, an applicant must, in the first instance, have been an equine breeder and have bred a foal, from a mare registered as on the applicant’s holding in 2012, in either 2010, 2011 or 2012, which was registered in a Stud Book approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Furthermore, the premises of all who meet this criteria must be registered with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in accordance with S.I. No. 8 of 2012, Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (Registration of Horse Premises) Order 2012.

Where these criteria are met, the following equines were then eligible for inclusion in the stocking density calculation for the 2012 Scheme:

- All equines aged one year to five years, (aged using 1 January), registered in the name of the applicant and maintained on his/her holding;

- Breeding mares, registered as having been on the applicant’s holding in 2012, that have bred an appropriately registered foal in either 2010, 2011 or 2012.

In proposing the changes in question, the intention is to better focus the Scheme, which is to the benefit of the majority of those farming in areas with recognised constraints, while at the same time attempting to cater for those genuinely prevented from achieving the revised minimums.