Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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211. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 91 of 14 May 2015 if he will clarify his reply, in which he states the members of the rural development programme monitoring committee were informed of the proposed amendments in April 2013 and asked for observations and the issue was included on the agenda of their committee meeting in July 2013, where the issue was discussed, and the amendments agreed by those present, because these statements are at odds with the Indecon review mid-term evaluation of the Rural Development Programme Ireland (December 2010), which states on pages 45-46 and 87-89, that the Natura 2000 scheme was replaced by a new Natura 2000 scheme in 2010, a new budget of €90 million has been allocated for the remaining three years and due to the replacement of Natura 2000 in July 2009 with a new Natura scheme in 2010; if the Indecon report is incorrect, or if his reply, prepared by his Department, could be more transparent and accurate by referencing the key decisions taken by the previous Government in 2009 and 2010. [27639/15]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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212. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 91 of 14 May 2015 if the National Parks and Wildlife Service approved of the re-allocation of over €400 million, originally earmarked for Natura land and water framework directive measures, in writing, considering the transparent and publically-available submission from the service, available on his Department's website, entitled On CAP reform and biodiversity, in May 2013, and the service's statement, in box 6, that such a significant underspend in the Natura 2000 allocation in the current programming period, is a cause of serious concern for this Department, before listing five specific concerns and referring to correspondence with his Department on 26 April 2013 as well. [27640/15]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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213. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 91 of 14 May 2015 if the decision to re-allocate over €400 million from support schemes from between 5,521 to 10,000 farm holdings in marginal lands, which are very important for wildlife, was actively supported by the four representatives from the three farm organisations on the rural development programme monitoring committee; his views on whether this decision regarding natural farming by the previous Government could cause reputational damage to the veracity of the sustainable marketing campaign by An Bord Bia, entitled 'Origin Green – we are Natural', in the international media. [27641/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 211 to 213, inclusive, together.

Under the initial Financial Plan for the Rural Development Programme 2007 – 2013 (RDP) an indicative amount of €528m was originally allocated to Natura 2000. The Natura 2000 measure provides for compensation to farmers for disadvantages in their farming activities arising out of 3 Directives – the Habitats Directive, the Wild Birds Directive and the Water Framework Directive. Under the 2007-2013 RDP, Natura 2000 is linked to both the REPS and AEOS agri-environment schemes, and applicants with Natura designated land are prioritised under AEOS.

Participation in agri-environment schemes, including Natura, is voluntary on the part of farmers and expenditure is therefore demand led. Actual demand under the Natura measure during the 2007 – 2013 Programme proved to be significantly less than had been provided for. Therefore, the financial provision for Natura was revised to reflect the actual spend as the programming period progressed. This involved the reallocation of funds across the agri-environment and Less Favoured Areas schemes in Axis 2 of the RDP without changing the overall spend under that Axis.

The members of the Rural Development Programme Monitoring Committee were informed of the proposed amendments to the RDP Financial Plan in April 2013 and asked for observations. The issue was included on the agenda of a RDP Monitoring Committee meeting in July 2013, where it was discussed and the amendments agreed by those present. The National Parks and Wildlife Service is a member of this Monitoring Committee, as are the representative farming organisations. While the National Parks and Wildlife Service has expressed concerns in writing in relation to this matter, the amendment to the RDP was agreed by the Monitoring Committee in full accordance with the regulatory and legislative process in place.

In relation to the reference in the Indecon Report to a new Natura 2000 scheme, this refers to the introduction of the new Natura Scheme linked to the new Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS) as part of the “Health Check” review of the Common Agricultural Policy in 2010. However, it should be noted that while these new Schemes were introduced following the allocation of additional “Health Check” European funding, payments continued to issue under the existing REPS and Natura 2000.

While money was transferred from the Natura measure in 2013, it should be noted that expenditure under the agri-environment budget measures in the 2007-2013 RDP also complemented and incentivised farmers with Natura land to engage with the agri-environment scheme.

In the new 2014-2020 RDP, Natura land is deemed a Priority Environmental Asset under the recently launched GLAS agri-environment scheme and thus expenditure on Natura lands will be continued and enhanced in the new programming period. In addition, the new 2014-2020 RDP contains a central focus on environmental and sustainability challenges across its schemes and supports. This continued investment in environmental sustainability in the agri-food sector has and will continue to complement initiatives such as Origin Green in enhancing Ireland’s green reputation as a producer of high quality produce.