Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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243. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average annual payment farmers will be entitled to draw down, based on current participation rates under the GLAS scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16570/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Some 38,000 farmers have been approved into the GLAS scheme under the first two tranches launched in 2015. The full value of these contracts will only be calculated later this year when the 2016 payments, the first full calendar year of their five-year contracts, are processed. It is only when this full year payment processing is complete that the definitive average payment per contract will be available.

However the latest estimate I have for the average basic annual contract value for GLAS Tranche 1 and GLAS Tranche 2 applications is €4,600. In addition some 2,500 applicants are currently expected to qualify for a GLAS + payment worth on average an additional €1,800. When GLAS + payments are included the overall average contract value for the Scheme will increase.