Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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284. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in view of the recent announcement regarding the green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme and the green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme+, if there will be a maximum and minimum number of acres that payment will be made in respect of, and if persons in hen harrier designated areas must have a plan to avail of the schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9171/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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All farmers require the services of an approved GLAS adviser to prepare and submit a GLAS application on their behalf. A wide range of actions is available to all farmers and it is the adviser’s function to identify those actions most suited to the farm in drawing up the application.

The proposed maximum payment is €5,000 for eligible farmers per annum, with an additional €2,000 per annum for those in GLAS+, in return for exceptional environmental commitment. Farms identified as habitats of endangered birds, which includes the Hen Harrier, will automatically receive up to €7,000 a year, if the area managed is large enough.

Those farmers who choose the Hen Harrier must comply with the Department’s prescription for the management of hen harrier habitats, as outlined in the GLAS Specification document. The prescription must be applied across all areas identified by my Department on the holding in question, but there is no minimum area to qualify. If the area is within a designated Natura site, a Sustainable Management Plan must also be drawn up by the GLAS Adviser for the designated area in accordance with the designation for that site.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in view of the recent announcement regarding the green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme and green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme+, if he will please advise whether a farmer, who has finished with the agri-environment options scheme 1 and-or with the agri-environment options scheme 2, may transfer to these green schemes, and if it is possible to make this transfer without incurring a penalty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9174/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased that, following long and complex negotiations with the European Commission, I was in a position to open GLAS on Monday 23 February 2015. Farmers who are already in AEOS may apply to join GLAS, if they see a benefit in doing so, and priority will be given to those AEOS farmers with Commonage land or with Hen Harrier priority environmental areas identified on their farms.