Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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236. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 103 of 10 December 2015, if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding an Irish Living Assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4185/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The person named submitted an application under the ‘new entrant to farming’ category of the 2015 National Reserve to my Department. Qualifying criteria for the National Reserve is set down under EU Regulation and under objective criteria as defined by the Member State. The process of deciding objective criteria for eligibility under the National Reserve is carried out in consultation with the Direct Payments Advisory Committee which includes members of the main farming bodies and advisory services. After consultation with this Committee it was decided that an off farm income limit of €40,000 would be applicable to all applicants under the 2015 National Reserve. The corresponding off farm income limit under the previous National Reserve was €30,000. Applicants under the 2015 National Reserve also have the flexibility of choosing either the 2013 or 2014 tax year, whichever is more advantageous. Officials from my Department have been in contact with the person named on a number of occasions regarding his off-farm income as submitted in support of his National Reserve application. The person named submitted documentary evidence setting out details of off-farm income earned in America in 2014. When determining the level of off-farm income earned outside of the jurisdiction the EURO conversion is based on the currency conversion rate on the last date of the tax year in the jurisdiction in which the monies were earned. This is applied consistently across all earnings from other jurisdictions submitted in support of National Reserve applications. A "living wage calculator" is not taken into account in determining EURO equivalents for monies earned in any jurisdiction.

Applicants must comply with all eligibility criteria including off farm income criteria in order to be deemed eligible to qualify for an allocation of entitlements under the National Reserve. By increasing the off-farm income limit and granting a choice of reference years, I have granted the maximum possible flexibility regarding income limits for the National Reserve. As the documents submitted by the person named in relation to his off-farm income show that he exceeded the limit of €40,000 in 2014, he does not meet the eligibility criteria under the National Reserve. A letter has issued to the person named informing him of the decision in relation to this application and offering the opportunity to appeal this decision.