Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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389. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is legally precluded under European Union law from allocating a top-up under the basic payment scheme to all farmers under 40 years of age; if not, his plans to allocate such a top-up, if all the funding for young farmers is not drawn down this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34392/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The 2013 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy provides for an annual payment for a maximum of five years to eligible young farmers who are entitled to a payment under the Basic Payment Scheme. The scheme is designed to assist young farmers in the initial stages of establishing a farming enterprise in their own name by providing this additional payment. In accordance with the EU Regulations governing the Young Farmers Scheme, a 'young farmer' is defined as:

- S/he is aged no more than 40 years of age in the year when s/he first submits an application under the Basic Payment Scheme;

- S/he is setting up an agricultural holding for the first time or has set up such a holding during the five years preceding the first submission of the Basic Payment Scheme application.

As these Regulations are applicable to all Member States my Department has no discretion with regard to their implementation.