Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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84. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the review undertaken by his Department, in respect of whether persons who have attended Mountbellew Agriculture College in County Galway and have obtained a level-7 degree in agriculture and environmental management and an add-on course qualification in rural enterprise and environmental management, have the necessary qualifications to act as a planner under the new green low-carbon agri-environment scheme is complete; if so, the decision that was arrived at; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6300/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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EU Regulations governing the Direct Payment Schemes requires my Department to operate a Farm Advisory System (FAS) to provide advice to farmers on a range of issues relating to land and farm management. The regulations require that advisors are suitably qualified and regularly trained. In addition, in order to be approved as a GLAS Advisor, an advisor must also be an approved FAS advisor. In determining the level of educational qualifications required to be a FAS/GLAS advisor, my Department must ensure that such qualifications are of an appropriate standard to meet the objectives and the requirements of the various schemes, and the associated governing legislation, on which advice is being provided. Advisors must be qualified to interpret soil tests, understand the requirements of all schemes and understand constraints of land management imposed by various land designations. Furthermore, advisors must be in a position to translate this knowledge into detailed management plans and advice for farmers not only on the schemes requirements but also on their farm operations.

In order to ensure that advisors meet the requirements outlined above, my Department requires that all advisors must have attained a HETAC Level 8 Bachelor Degree in Agricultural Science/Land Management in Agriculture and must have taken soil science and an animal or crop production subject to a level 8 (NFQ) degree standard.

My Department recently carried out a review of the educational qualification requirements for FAS/GLAS advisors following the receipt of an appeal from Mountbellew Agricultural College/GMIT in relation to the level 7 BSc in Agriculture and Environment Management with the add-on level 8 BSc in Rural Enterprise and Environment Management, which had been deemed as not meeting the required standard. The review was undertaken by an officer independent of the original decision making process.

This review, which incorporated a detailed examination of all documentation submitted as part of the appeal, identified that this course did not meet the standard of educational qualifications required as some of the core subjects of soil science and animal and crop production were assessed only as part of the level 7 degree. The required standard to be approved as a FAS/GLAS advisor is, and has been for some years, that these core subjects must have been taken/assessed as part of a level 8 (NFQ) degree programme.

In order to address the concerns on this issue, I am now arranging for officials from my Department to meet with relevant institutions in the near future to discuss in detail the educational qualification requirements for FAS Advisors, the feasibility of adapting existing courses to meet this standard in the future and to identify options to facilitate past graduates in achieving the required standard of qualifications.