Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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550. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the criteria and guidelines that are required to be met under the scheme for quality approved products (details supplied). [14597/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Minimum specifications for farm fencing is set out in the Department’s publication S 148 which includes timber fencing. This document covers different types of fencing such as deer, sheep and rabbit. The document itself can be found on the Department’s website at .

Grant aid is also available for fencing posts under the Department’s afforestation scheme at two different rates. In order to claim the higher rate applicants establishing new forests must use fencing posts which have attained Irish Standard 436:2007. Further information regarding this standard is available from the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).

The Department encourages the use of the IS 436 standard under the afforestation scheme, however, it has decided to continue to provide grant aid for new fences that do not meet this standard, but to do so at a lower rate and allowance per hectare. A decision to continue funding non-IS 436 fencing under this scheme will be kept under review.

Further information regarding fencing under the afforestation scheme can be found in the forestry standards manual at .