Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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367. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a targeted payment for livestock to supplement income viability for farmers in upland and hill areas which have very limited alternative land use options; his views that €25 million would be the desired allocation in the 2016 budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34196/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In developing the shape of the new system of Direct Payments in Ireland, I have been very conscious of the needs of farmers, in particular those who farm on hill and commonage land. In general, upland and hill farmers are sheep farmers who held low value entitlements under the former Single Payment Scheme. Such farmers will benefit significantly from the model of convergence that is to be applied in Ireland where those with a low Initial Unit Value will see the value of their entitlements increase over the period of the new Basic Payment Scheme. When determining the Initial Unit Value of a farmer’s entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015, Regulation 1307/2013 gives Member States the option to take into account any payment the farmer received in 2014 under schemes such as the Grassland Sheep Scheme. This option is only available where the Member State is not applying voluntary coupled support to the sector concerned under the new CAP.  Accordingly, while the legal basis for the former Grassland Sheep Scheme is no longer in place under the new regulations, these payments have been taken into account under the new Basic Payments Scheme.

In addition, in negotiating and developing the new Rural Development Programme, 2014-2020, I have included a number of schemes that will be of direct benefit to the farmers in question. For example, a strong commitment to continuation of funding under the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme (formerly the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme), a range of supports under the new Capital Investment Scheme TAMS II, the prioritisation afforded to commonage farmers under GLAS, and support for a specific Knowledge Transfer Group for sheep farmers will be of particular benefit in this regard.