Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

140. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to alow all eligible applicants into the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme on a first-come, first-in basis in 2015, in view of the delay in commencing the scheme; if he will ensure that farmers will receive a significant payment under the scheme this year and all the funds provided under the scheme in the Estimates are paid out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6625/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

GLAS (the Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme) is part of a suite of proposed measures under the new Rural Development Programme (RDP). Ireland's draft RDP for the period 2014-2020 was submitted to the European Commission for approval 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 funding I have secured will accommodate the approval of 25,000 to 30,000 farmers in the first tranche of applications.

I am obliged to respect all regulatory provisions governing the GLAS Scheme and these regulations do not allow for applicants to be approved on a "first-come, first-in" basis. It is a regulatory requirement that all applications received before the closing date must be administratively checked before any application can be selected for approval into the scheme. When the administrative checks have been completed all valid applications will then be ranked and selected based in the first instance on the priority environmental assets attributed to each holding. The number of applications submitted will impact on the processing time but it is my intention to prioritise this work and notify farmers of the outcome of their applications at the earliest possible date.

As with the introduction of previous agri-environmental schemes, payment in the first year of application (2015) will be on a part-year basis, followed by annual payments for a further five full calendar years. I have included a sum of €20m in my Department's Estimates for 2015 to cove r expenditure on GLAS this year and given the level of interest in the scheme I believe this estimate is realistic and that it will be fully utilised.