Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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323. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on admitting all eligible applicants under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme tranche 2 into the scheme; the date from which their contracts will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12121/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The overall target for GLAS is to attract 50,000 farmers into the scheme. I am pleased to confirm that some 38,000 farmers have been approved into the first two tranches of GLAS , GLAS 1 and GLAS 2 , while ensuring adequate provision remains for Tranche 3 of the scheme. The unprecedented level of applications to the Scheme has meant that for the second tranche of GLAS, priority was 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.

The majority of GLAS 1 applicants have a contract start date of 1 October 2015, while the remainder have a start date of 1 January 2016. All applicants approved into the second tranche of GLAS (GLAS 2) also have a contract start date of 1 January 2016.

A third tranche of GLAS will open later this year and any applicant who was unsuccessful under GLAS 2 has the opportunity now to re-examine their proposed farm-plan in consultation with their advisor to see how it might be improved to increase their chance of selection under GLAS 3 and submit a new application for GLAS 3 when the scheme is opened.