Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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165. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine with regard to the establishment of entitlements, if he will make clear the way entitlements will be established under the new system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6053/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Any farmer who received a direct payment in 2013 (Single Payment, Grassland Sheep Scheme, Burren Life Scheme, Beef Data Scheme) is automatically eligible to receive an allocation of entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015. As the Minister announced recently, the number of entitlements that will be allocated to a farmer under the new Basic Payment Scheme will be based on the number of eligible hectares the farmer declares in 2013 and 2015, whichever is lower.

The value of entitlements that will be allocated to a farmer in 2015 will be based on a percentage of the value held by the farmer in 2014. A decision is due shortly to decide whether the ‘value’ will be based on the total value of ‘entitlements’ held by a farmer in 2014 or on the value of the ‘payments’ received by the farmer in 2014. The value that is carried forward from 2014 is spread across the ‘number’ of entitlements that is allocated to the farmer in 2015 to give the farmer’s Initial Unit Value.

All entitlements are subject to convergence whereby those with an Initial Unit Value that is below 90% of the national average entitlement value will see the value of their entitlements increase gradually over the five years of the scheme. Those who hold entitlements that have an Initial Unit Value that is above 100% of the national average entitlement value will see the value of their entitlements decrease gradually over the five years of the scheme.