Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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355. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans regarding land eligibility issues in the creation of entitlements for marginal land, especially for those farmers who may have increased production on the same land since the original reference years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15395/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The position regarding the establishment of new payment entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) is fixed under EU Regulations. The number of payment entitlements to be allocated to each eligible applicant will be based on the number of eligible hectares declares by applicants under the 2013 Single Payment Scheme or 2015 Basic Payment Scheme, whichever is the lower. It should be borne in mind that where farmers with marginal land are allocated entitlements at a value less than 90% the BPS national average, these applicants will benefit from an increase in the value of their entitlements over the period 2015 to 2019 through the entitlement convergence process. This will result in additional BPS payments being made to these farmers over the next five years.