Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

880. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a change is proposed in respect of equines under Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy, including whether the farming of equines will be eligible under all the definitions of an active farmer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13598/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To participate in the Basic Payment Scheme and related schemes a person must be an ‘active farmer’ as defined in the Direct Payment Regulation. Only persons who fulfil one of the following can be considered as an ‘active farmer’ and will be eligible to receive a direct payment:

a. A ‘farmer’ is defined as a person who carries out an agricultural activity such as ‘the rearing or growing of agricultural products including harvesting, milking, breeding animals and keeping animals for farming purposes’.

b. Persons who do not engage in one or more of these activities must at a minimum maintain their land in ‘good agricultural and environmental condition’.

c. Where land can be described as an area ‘naturally kept in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation’ (marginal land), each Member State must establish a level of ‘minimum activity’ to be carried out by farmers on such land. As of yet it has not been decided what will constitute a ‘minimum activity’ but one option is the application of a minimum stocking density.

In addition, farmers who qualify under the so called Scottish derogation must produce verifiable evidence that in 2013 they ‘produced, reared or grew agricultural products...’

Council Regulation 1782/2003 confined the allocation of entitlements to farmers who received a direct payment in the period 2000-2002. In Ireland’s case this resulted in entitlements being allocated to farmers who were paid coupled support under the Suckler Cow Scheme, and/or the Special Beef Premium Scheme, and/or the Slaughter Premium Scheme, and/or the Ewe Premium Scheme and/or the Arable aid scheme. The farming of equines during this original reference period did not attract the allocation of entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme.

A similar situation will apply under the new Basic Payment Scheme where the definition of agricultural activity or the production of agricultural products will be taken to apply to the Beef, Sheep and Arable sectors exclusively. As under the Single Payment Scheme, the farming of equines will on its own not form the basis for defining an active farmer nor qualify a person for an allocation of entitlements.