Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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241. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the 2015 national reserve (young farmer/new entrant) and young farmers scheme terms and conditions, in particular the condition that applicants for the young farmers category of the national reserve must have a gross off-farm income that does not exceed €40,000 in one of the tax years 2013 or 2014, are compatible with the conditions for "farmers commencing their agricultural activity" in Article 30 of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013, which allows member states to establish their own additional objective and non-discriminative eligibility criteria for this category of farmers only as regards appropriate skills, experience or education. [4218/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Reserve has been administered in Ireland since the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme in 2005 and provides for an allocation of entitlements to eligible applicants. The Basic payment scheme National Reserve was introduced as a measure under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015. Qualifying criteria for the National Reserve is set down under EU Regulation and under objective criteria as defined by the Member State. Article 30.4 of EU Regulation 1307/2013, governing the operation of the National Reserve under the Basic Payment Scheme, states that ‘Member States shall allocate payment entitlements from their national or regional reserves in accordance with objective criteria and in such a way as to ensure the equal treatment of farmers and to avoid distortions of the market and of competition’.

The process of deciding objective criteria for 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, and in the context of the limited funding available to the National Reserve, it was decided that an off farm income limit of €40,000 would be applied to all applicants. The corresponding off-farm income limit under the Single Payment Scheme National Reserve was €30,000. Applicants under the Basic Payment Scheme National Reserve have the flexibility of choosing either of the two most recent tax years, 2013 or 2014 whichever is more advantageous.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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242. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the 2015 national reserve (young farmer/new entrant) and young farmers scheme terms and conditions, in particular the condition that applicants for the young farmers category of the national reserve who are farming as part of a group or as a company will have the gross off-farm income of the directors taken into consideration, are compatible with the conditions for "farmers commencing their agricultural activity" provided in Article 30 of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013, which allows the member states to establish their own additional objective and non-discriminative eligibility criteria for this category of farmers only as regards appropriate skills, experience or education. [4219/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Reserve has been administered in Ireland since the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme in 2005 and provides for an allocation of entitlements to eligible applicants. The Basic payment scheme National Reserve was introduced as a measure under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015. Qualifying criteria for the National Reserve is set down under EU Regulation and under objective criteria as defined by the Member State. Article 30.4 of EU Regulation 1307/2013, governing the operation of the National Reserve under the Basic Payment Scheme, states that ‘Member States shall allocate payment entitlements from their national or regional reserves in accordance with objective criteria and in such a way as to ensure the equal treatment of farmers and to avoid distortions of the market and of competition’ .

The process of deciding objective criteria for 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, and in the context of the limited funding available to the National Reserve, it was decided that an off farm income limit of €40,000 would be applied to all applicants. The corresponding off-farm income limit under the Single Payment Scheme National Reserve was €30,000. Applicants under the Basic Payment Scheme National Reserve have the flexibility of choosing either of the two most recent tax years, whichever is more advantageous.

The application of the off-farm income limit insofar as it applies to groups farming as natural persons or legal persons is consistent and compatible with the requirements of the Regulations. Where a group applicant is a legal person, as is in the case of a Company operating under one herd number, the off-farm income of all Directors of the Company is taken into account. Where an applicant involves a group of natural persons registered under one herd number, the off-farm income of all persons named on the herd number is taken into account. This applies to applicants under both the ‘young farmer’ and the ‘new entrant to farming’ priority categories of the National Reserve.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Labour)
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243. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the 2015 national reserve (young farmer/new entrant) and young farmers scheme terms and conditions, in particular the condition that applicants for the young farmers category of the national reserve who are farming as part of a group or as a company will have the gross off-farm income of the directors taken into consideration, effectively discriminate between applicants commencing their agricultural activity as natural persons and those commencing their agricultural activity as legal persons, in a manner not envisaged in Article 30 (11) of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013. [4220/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The National Reserve has been administered in Ireland since the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme in 2005 and provides for an allocation of entitlements to eligible applicants. The Basic payment scheme National Reserve was introduced as a measure under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015. Qualifying criteria for the National Reserve is set down under EU Regulation and under objective criteria as defined by the Member State. Article 30.4 of EU Regulation 1307/2013, governing the operation of the National Reserve under the Basic Payment Scheme, states that ‘Member States shall allocate payment entitlements from their national or regional reserves in accordance with objective criteria and in such a way as to ensure the equal treatment of farmers and to avoid distortions of the market and of competition’.

The process of deciding objective criteria for 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, and in the context of the limited funding available to the National Reserve, it was decided that an off farm income limit of €40,000 would be applied to all applicants. The corresponding off-farm income limit under the Single Payment Scheme National Reserve was €30,000. Applicants under the Basic Payment Scheme National Reserve have the flexibility of choosing either of the two most recent tax years, whichever is more advantageous.

The application of the off-farm income limit insofar as it applies to groups farming as natural persons or legal persons is consistent and compatible with the requirements of the Regulations. Where a group applicant is a legal person, as is in the case of a Company operating under one herd number, the off-farm income of all Directors of the Company is taken into account. Where an applicant involves a group of natural persons registered under one herd number, the off-farm income of all persons named on the herd number is taken into account. This applies to applicants under both the ‘young farmer’ and the ‘new entrant to farming’ priority categories of the National Reserve.