Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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401. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a person who purchased land in October 2014 can apply under the green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme, as the person did not receive a single payment in 2014 due to caring for a relative at the time; if there are any special or force majeure circumstances under which a person who did not receive a payment under the scheme in 2013, and who is over 40 years of age, can apply for entitlements for the basic payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20256/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The person named did not hold entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme, did not receive a direct payment in 2013, and does not hold an automatic right to receive entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015. As the person named purchased land in October 2014 and was allocated a herd number in December of the same year, it is unlikely that she will qualify under the Scottish Derogation which requires active agricultural production in May 2013.

Force majeure circumstances are taken into account where a person’s normal agricultural production is interrupted by such circumstances. As there was no agricultural production in 2013, the application of force majeure is not relevant to either the Basic Payment Scheme or to the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme.

The category of ‘new entrant’ to farming was available under the National Reserve to persons who established their holding in 2013 or later and who hold, or commit to undertaking, an agricultural course of education leading to a FETAC level 6 qualification. However the closing date for such applications to the National Reserve was 31 March 2015.

If the original owner of the land established a right to receive entitlements arising from that land, it is possible for that Allocation Right to be transferred to the person named by way of Private Contract Clause. To enter into such an arrangement the original owner must remain an active farmer in 2015, must submit a Basic Payment Scheme application and must declare a minimum of one eligible hectare in his/her own right. Further details on this option can be obtained from the CAP Advisory Centre at 0761 064438 or by email to .

As of the 2016 scheme year, entitlements may be purchased on the open market.