Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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361. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the proposed entry criteria for upland farmers in relation to the GLAS scheme in the rural development programme; the justification for same and his response to those farmers who recently protested against the proposed changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28306/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I announced details of the new GLAS (Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme) in January 2014 as part of a suite of proposed measures under the new Rural Development Programme. Following an extensive consultation process, I published a second draft of the entire Rural Development Programme in May as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process. This latest document sets out the range of proposed measures in considerable detail, including what has been proposed under GLAS.

As regards farmers with commonage, the key thing here has always been to balance the critical mass required to deliver a meaningful commonage plan compatible with EU and national financial support with what it is possible and practical to achieve by way of agreement amongst the shareholders concerned. Commonages are owned and managed collectively and therefore a single GLAS commonage plan is what is required to implement the actions foreseen under GLAS.