Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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211. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will admit all eligible applicants under the tranche 2 green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, into the scheme; the date from which their contracts will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5276/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The assessment and processing of GLAS Tranche 2 (GLAS 2) applications was undertaken by my Department in January 2016 and decision letters in respect of applications selected and not selected into the Scheme have issued to applicants. For those applications selected into the Scheme under GLAS 2 the commencement date of the contract is 1 January 2016. The unprecedented level of applications to the Scheme has meant that for GLAS 2, priority is being given to what are called Tier 1 and Tier 2 candidates, i.e. those who either manage key environmental assets like endangered birds, protected habitats or high-quality water courses, or who have committed to undertake particularly valuable environmental actions like growing feed-crops for wild birds, adopting low-impact tillage techniques or using low-emission slurry spreading methods.

Farmers had been urged to present the highest standard environmental plans under GLAS 2, and to adopt actions that would promote them from Tier 3 to a higher tier, thereby significantly increasing the chance of selection. I am delighted that over 80% of applicants in this second tranche of GLAS opted to do so, and with the funding available to me I have been able to approve all of these.

In addition all GLAS 2 applications from new entrants to farming in 2015, and from new farm partnerships, have been granted priority access under this round, because of difficulties they had in applying under GLAS 1. This includes applications by new entrants or partnerships from Tier 3.

All other Tier 3 applications were not selected into the Scheme at this juncture but applicants have the opportunity to consider submitting an application to Tranche 3 in the Autumn.