Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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378. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline his views on the broadening of the green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme to allow more farmers avail of it (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11832/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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GLAS is an agri-environment climate measure under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. Its aim is to deliver environmental benefits which will protect and enhance our biodiversity and water quality and which will raise awareness of and encourage actions which mitigate the effects of climate change. The scheme as now presented contains actions which will deliver the expected environmental dividends and is the result of widespread consultation with stakeholders and of protracted negotiations with the Commission.

GLAS offers a wide range of actions to farmers, some of which require reduced inputs such as Low Input Permanent Pasture. Farmers taking these actions are paid on the basis of income foregone as a result of complying with the specification. In the case of Low Input Permanent Pasture, for instance, this payment is €314 per hectare and if the specification was to be reduced to allow more fertiliser to be applied, that payment would also now have to be reduced.

However, there is a wide range of actions to choose from in GLAS, most of which do not require reduced fertiliser application. I have provided for 50,000 farmers to join the Scheme and there is scope within that number for participants from all types of farming systems, including those with small holdings.