Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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331. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the GLAS scheme will be fully operational. [4579/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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GLAS (the Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme) is part of a suite of proposed measures under Ireland’s Rural Development Programme (RDP) which was submitted to the European Commission in July. The Commission services notified us of their detailed observations on the draft Programme at the end of October last year, to which my Department provided immediate and detailed replies. Since then, bilateral discussions have been ongoing with the Commission with the objective of securing approval for the Irish Programme at the earliest possible date. Once approval is granted, my Department will move to open the Scheme as soon as possible.

Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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332. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a one-year derogation on entry to GLAS will be applied in view ot the spring barley growing tillage farmers who have a derogation of the three-crop rule provided that they are in the new GLAS and in view of the fact that the application date for the single farm payment may come before GLAS acceptance. [4581/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As part of the Reform of the CAP, the Single Payment Scheme was replaced by the Basic Payment Scheme and the Greening Payment with effect from 1 January 2015. The three requirements covered under the greening measures are as follows;

· Protection of permanent grassland, which is applied at national level

· Crop Diversification

· Ecological Focus Area

Farmers with less than 10 hectares of arable land are exempt from the Crop Diversification requirements. Farmers with 10 to 30 hectares of arable land must grow at least two crops and farmers with over 30 hectares of arable land must grow at least three crops. The area of the main crop cannot exceed 75% of the arable land while the area of the two main crops cannot exceed 95% of the arable land.

In order to assist arable farmers to meet the Crop Diversification requirements I decided to apply equivalence under the new Agri-Environment measure – GLAS. Farmers, who sow catch crops on all of their arable land under that Scheme, will be exempt from the Crop Diversification requirements provided that they apply for equivalence under GLAS and are accepted under that Scheme. The requirements governing the Greening Payment are applicable since 1 January 2015. In order that a farmer with over 30 hectares of arable land, for example, is eligible for the full payment under the Greening Payment, he or she must either grow three arable crops in 2015 or apply for equivalence under GLAS and sow the required area of catch crops under the provisions of that Scheme. It is not possible, under the provisions of the EU Regulations, to exempt farmers from the greening requirements in 2015.