Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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18. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide automatic access to the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme plus to farmers who were previously within the 12 Bens and Maumturks scheme in County Galway and the Nephin and Owenriff schemes in County Mayo, given the large destocking that took place in both areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41360/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Farmers in these areas who manage Natura land or have commonage already have automatic access to GLAS and are guaranteed priority entry to the scheme as Tier One candidates. Destocking of commonage land in the Twelve Bens/Maumturk complex and the Owenduff/ Nephin Beg complex commenced in the year 2000 when all shareholders were required to reduce sheep numbers by 30% due to serious overgrazing problems pending the preparation of Commonage Management Plans (CMPs ). In June 2002, implementation of site-specific CMP s commenced with many commonages within these sites requiring destocking in excess of 50%. Compliance with CMP requirements was recognised through REPS payments, while farmers outside of REPS were entitled to claim compensation under a national scheme operated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Following a Judgment against Ireland by the European Court in 2002 for failure to protect the habitat of the Red Grouse in these areas, the European Commission required further destocking of the hills in 2006. As this was seen as an additional requirement over and above what was being compensated for under existing REPS contracts, the National Parks and Wildlife Service made a top up payment to the farmers concerned under the national scheme operated by them.

As I said at the outset, the farmers concerned already have automatic access to GLAS. In relation to GLAS Plus, the increased payments available under this measure are also automatically applied where the annual cost for a farmer of addressing a combination of Tier 1 Priority Environmental Assets (PEAs) exceeds €5,000 per annum. In such cases, these farmers move into the GLAS Plus category, where the ceiling for annual payment is €7,000. However, it is important to note that, with the exception of those managing bird habitats, farmers hoping to benefit from GLAS Plus must have more than one Priority Environmental Asset. For example, if a farmer has both commonage and privately-owned Natura land, he or she is a candidate for GLAS Plus if the cost of addressing both actions exceeds €5,000. My Department will automatically identify such cases and will automatically calculate the additional GLAS Plus payment. There is no need for a separate application.