Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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982. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a person (details supplied) can qualify under the young farmers' scheme or the national reserve scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9428/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The person named submitted applications under the ‘young farmer’ category of the 2015 National Reserve and the Young Farmers Scheme. According to records held by my Department the person named commenced farming in 2009, which is outside the eligibility period for the measures applied for and as such this application was not successful. For the purposes of eligibility under the National Reserve and Young Farmers’ Scheme the date of commencement of agricultural activity is deemed to be the date on which the herd number was allocated. The person named was notified of this decision and was offered the opportunity to submit an appeal. The Agricultural Advisor acting on behalf of the person named subsequently contacted my Department directly requesting that the person named be reconsidered for the National Reserve, under the category of ‘Old Young Farmer’ which applies to farmers who commenced their agricultural activity in 2008 or 2009. This request was accepted and the application from the person named was reconsidered under the National Reserve ‘Old Young Farmer’ category. This application was successful and payment issued on 2nd April 2016.

With regard to the application under the Young Farmers’ Scheme, the EU Regulations governing the operation of this scheme clearly state that eligible applicants must have commenced their agricultural activity since 1 January 2010. This Regulation applies to all Member States and my Department has no discretion with regard to its implementation.