Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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281. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review the society registration date of 2013 for rare-breed eligibility in view of the delay in the roll-out of the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme; if he will allow society registrations in 2014 to be included. [5721/15]

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 the new Rural Development Programme (RDP) which was submitted to the European Commission in July last year and approval for the Scheme is still awaited. My officials are involved in negotiations with the Commission to expedite that approval and the Scheme will be opened as soon as possible. The scheme gives priority access to those farmers who have valuable environmental assets , and the retention of rare breeds falls into this category. The conservation and preservation of breeds which are under threat is vitally important in the context of halting the loss of biodiversity, which is why those farmers who have continued to maintain these breeds will be given priority access into the Scheme under Tier 1. Any farmers who had registered livestock in 2012 and/or 2013 will be eligible to join the first tranche of the Scheme and this will target those who have traditionally been engaged in this valuable work. Those who register with approved breed societies in 2014 will have the opportunity to join the scheme in the second tranche.