Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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47. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to consider providing access to young trained farmers every 12 months under the national reserve funding scheme. [8725/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In 2015 the National Reserve fund was based on a 3% cut to the Basic Payment Scheme financial ceiling and provided some €24 million in funding which was the maximum financing rate available under the relevant EU Regulations. When finalised there will be some 6,000 successful applicants under the 2015 National Reserve. Due to the high level of successful applicants under the scheme in 2015, all of the available National Reserve Funding will likely have been utilised.

For 2016 the only source of funding available to the National Reserve will be from ‘clawback’ on the sale of entitlements without land and indications are that the level of funds that will arise from ‘clawback’ during the 2016 Scheme Year will be minimal. The Regulations also provide that Member States may apply a linear cut to the value of all farmers’ entitlements in order to provide funding for the National Reserve.

From 2017 onwards the National Reserve will be replenished from unused entitlements, as EU Regulations governing the scheme provide that entitlements that are unused for two consecutive years are surrendered to the National Reserve.

My Department has recently been in consultation with the Direct Payments Advisory Committee, which includes members of the main farming bodies and advisory services, in relation to the 2016 National Reserve. No final decision has been made at this time.