Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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359. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applicants who have applied, to date, under the green low-carbon agri-environmental scheme, by county, and indicating the number of applicants who have commonage; the expected latest date for approval of these applications; the percentage payment that it is expected to be paid to applicants this year for the portion of the year they are in the scheme; the expected proportion of applicants who will be expected to receive a payment this year; the average annual payment that applicants under the scheme have applied for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23226/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, I would like to welcome the fact that almost 27,000 applications were submitted in the first tranche of GLAS applications, which is very much in line with the projections I made when launching the scheme. All GLAS applications will now be assessed and approved in line with the priority environmental assets and pre-determined selection criteria. Until this process is completed it is not possible to make accurate payment projections but I have included €20 million in the current estimates for GLAS payments in 2015 and I expect the average full year payment to be in the order of €5,000. All applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application and I anticipate contracts will commence in October and run until the end of 2020. It is expected that the majority of those who clear administrative checks will receive a first instalment of 75% of the eligible payment for the period October to December by end of year.

A full breakdown of the applications received is supplied below: