Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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93. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on correspondence regarding the valuation of entitlements in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will initiate a review of the valuation of entitlements. [18928/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The number of entitlements to be allocated to any one farmer under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015 is based on the number of eligible hectares declared in 2013 or 2015, whichever is lesser. The value of those entitlements is based on the total value of entitlements owned by the farmer in 2014 plus the value of any payment received under the Grassland Sheep Scheme in that year. As with all farmers, a person’s direct payment in 2015 is no longer based solely on entitlements but is divided between the Basic Payment and Greening. The person named declared 82.06 hectares of eligible land in 2013 and, if he declares the same or a greater amount of land in 2015, he will be allocated 82.06 entitlements.

In 2014, the person named submitted a Transfer of Entitlements application form and applied to sell 17.05 entitlements with a total value of €2,081.27 to another farmer. This application was successful and consequently the value of those entitlements will not be available to the person named for the purposes of calculating his new entitlement value in 2015.

In 2014, the unit value of the entitlements held by the person named was €118.93. The estimated initial value of his entitlements in 2015 will be €74.94. However, the number of entitlements allocated has increased from 76 to 82 and this unit value is exclusive of the greening payment which will be added as an additional payment and is calculated as a fixed percentage of the value of the Basic Payment Scheme entitlements.

In terms of payment arising from entitlements, in 2013 the person named received a total payment of €9 ,928. In 2014, having sold entitlements with a total value of over €2,000, he still received a total payment of €8,950. In 2015, his estimated total payment which is inclusive of the greening payment will be €9,457.10. Through the process of convergence, this payment will increase on an annual basis so that by 2019 the person named will receive approximately €12,084.45. This represents an increase of 21.7 % between his 201 5 and 2019 payments.