Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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304. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the commitment made by his Department to spend €250 million per year on GLAS when the scheme is fully subscribed will be delivered in 2017; if not, the reason therefor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19057/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The GLAS scheme is one of the Agri-Environment measures approved in Ireland's Rural Development Programme 2014-2020.  The participation uptake target for the GLAS scheme in the RDP 2014-2020 was 50,000 farmers by 2018.  This target will have been already exceeded when the remaining applications to GLAS 3 have been finalised over the coming weeks with over 50,000 farmers in the scheme by 2017.  

I am therefore satisfied that all available EU funding to support agri-environment commitments in RDP 2014-2020 including GLAS will be fully utilised.  In respect of 2017, the full outturn will not be known until the 2017 GLAS payments are calculated in the final quarter of the year for all cases which meet regulatory requirements and conditions of the Scheme.