Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

23. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review the criteria blocking young farmers who are under 40 years of age but who have been farming for more than five years from accessing measures under the new Comnmon Agricultural Policy programme for young farmers, including applying for the national reserve, and top-up entitlements; the reason they are currently excluded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18676/15]

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

In accordance with the EU Regulations governing the National Reserve and the Young Farmers Scheme, a young farmer is defined as a farmer aged no more than 40 years of age in the year when s/he first submits an application under the Basic Payment Scheme and who commenced their farming activity no more than five years prior to submitting that application. Priority under the National Reserve is given to ‘young farmers’ and to ‘new entrants to farming’. A new entrant is defined as a farmer who commenced their agricultural activity during the previous two years.

The Regulations governing the operation of the National Reserve also include an optional provision whereby Member States may use the National Reserve to allocate new entitlements or give a top-up on the value of existing entitlements for persons who suffer from a ‘Specific Disadvantage’. Following my Department’s consultation with the EU Commission, I announced in March 2015 that the group commonly known as “Old Young Farmers”, who established their holding between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2009, and who, due to the timeframe of setting up their holding did not benefit from either the Installation Aid or the Young farmer category of the National Reserve, can be considered as a ‘group suffering from specific disadvantage’. The result is that this group is eligible to apply to the National Reserve under Phase 2 which opened for applications on 1 st April 2015.

Eligibility for the Young Farmers Scheme is clearly defined in the EU Regulation and is restricted to farmers who commenced their farming activity no more than five years prior to submitting the Basic Payment Scheme application. My Department has no discretion in the implementation of this aspect of the Regulation and in this regard farmers who commenced their agricultural activity prior to 1 January 2010 are not eligible for the Young Farmers Scheme.

With regard to access under Pillar 2 to the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) for young farmers who established their holdings prior to 2008, I intend to prioritise their applications under TAMS, with grant-aid payable at 40%.