Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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333. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the cost of paying a ewe premium of €10 per head where stocking density is over six ewes per hectare and €20 where there is a stocking density of five ewes or fewer per hectare. [12225/16]

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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335. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated cost of the re-introduction in 2017 of the sheep grassland scheme based on current stocking rates and numbers in the national flock. [12227/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 333 and 335 together.

The sheep sector is an important component of our agriculture economy and the third largest farming sector in Ireland with over 34,000 producers and an output value of over € 230 million in 2015 .

It is for this reason that the Programme for Government includes a commitment to introduce a new scheme in support of the sector which, with an estimated expenditure of €25 million per year, will represent a considerable increase on the annual Grassland Sheep scheme (GSS)

The Grassland Sheep Scheme ran from 2010 until final payments in 2015. It required sheep farmers to have a valid Single Payment application with forage areas declared, maintain a ewe breeding flock and submit a sheep census form over the period covered among other statutory requirements on GAEC. Payment was based on the number of ewes declared on an applicant’s census form, the amount of hectares of forage land declared and the type of land declared, be it mountain or lowland.

Over the course of the scheme almost €62 million net was paid to sheep farmers with an average payment of €15 million per year. According to the latest census data available to the Department through the 2014 published census, re-opening the Grassland Sheep Scheme (GSS) in 2017 would cost approximately the same as previous years at around €15 million per annum.

However it must be remembered that it is not the case that the former Grassland Sheep Scheme was discontinued but rather that payments under that scheme have been incorporated into the new Basic Payment Scheme so in effect many farmers are still receiving the benefit of these payments. In addition of course, many sheep farmers are benefitting from the model of convergence applied in Ireland where those with a low initial value will see their entitlements increase over a period of time.

The focus now is on to the design of the new sheep scheme. My Department is currently working on a draft outline of the scheme design with a view to discussing this with farm organisations and stakeholders in the very near future. It is not possible at this point to provide detailed costings from a scheme which is graduated in the name suggested by the Deputy.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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334. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the cost to the Exchequer of the sheep grassland scheme in 2012, 2013 and 2014. [12226/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Article 68 of Council Regulation (EC) 73/2009 provided that unused Single Payment Programme funds could be reallocated to support specific types of farming. The Grassland Sheep Scheme introduced in 2010 was a direct support for breeding ewe enterprises funded under this article . This scheme was fully EU funded.

The allocated budget for years 2012, 2013 and 2014 was €18m, €14m and €15m respectively. This payment has now been incorporated into the Basic Payment Scheme currently received by farmers.