Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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290. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the length of time a young farmer allocated entitlements from the National Reserve under the 2015 scheme has to hold on to the entitlements before leasing or selling them on in order not to incur any claw-back or penalty; if it is permissible to stack these entitlements without claw-back or penalty after one year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5812/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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To be eligible under the Young Farmer priority category of the National Reserve an applicant must meet the following conditions: -

- S/he is participating in the Basic Payment Scheme in the year in which s/he submits an application;

- S/he is aged no more than 40 years of age at any time during the calendar year in which s/he first submits an application under the Basic Payment Scheme;

- S/he has successfully completed a recognised course of education in agriculture giving rise to an award at FETAC level 6 or its equivalent. Alternatively s/he must commit to commencing such a course by 30^thSeptember 2016;

- Has a gross off-farm income that does not exceed €40,000 in one of the tax years 2013 or 2014;

- S/he is setting up an agricultural holding for the first time or has set up such a holding during the five years preceding the first submission of the Basic Payment Scheme application.

The EU regulations governing the National Reserve do not provide for a retention period in respect of entitlements allocated from the reserve. The option to transfer entitlements will not be available until the 2016 scheme year. Rules pertaining to the Transfer of Entitlements in 2016 will be drawn up in due course in consultation with the Direct Payment Advisory Committee, which includes members of the main farming bodies and advisory services.

The relevant EU Regulations governing the operation of the Basic Payment Scheme do not provide for consolidation or stacking of entitlements.