Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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560. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason his Department's information system is dropping plots on the BPS applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24494/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Department's Basic Payment Scheme Online system allows applicants to declare all the land being farmed by them for the appropriate period.  Land declared by them in a previous year is provided as a guide to farmers to assist in making their application. Occasionally parcels will not be provided on the online system.  For example, land parcels that were deemed ineligible in the previous year e.g. land claimed with another applicant. These can be added back in easily by the applicant if being farmed by them in the year of application, using the 'Add Parcel' facility 

Farmers should declare all land being farmed by them for the application period. The summary screen of the application process provides details of the number of parcels the farmer declares and the breakdown of crop types, total area etc. to allow the farmer cross-check to make sure all land has been included.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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561. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason redigitised plots on his Department's systems are given a zero maximum eligible area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24478/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Each year farmers are required to declare all land holdings that they farm and wish to draw down area based payments on.  The Department's mapping system - Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), has a unique identifier for each block of land on the system, known as a parcel number.  Each parcel has an attribute, known as the Maximum Eligible Area (MEA), which is the eligible area for payment.  The MEA can range from zero in the case of farm yards, to the total area of the parcel, in the case of agricultural land fully farmed and with no waste e.g. scrub.

At application time farmers or their agents may wish to update the parcel information.  This can be due to a number of reasons e.g. changes to land eligibility due to scrub reclamation, or reductions due to farm yard development and extension.  In these situations the change can be made by the addition of a plot to the application.  This plot indicates that a parcel needs to be amended and the underlying eligibility reviewed.  While the plot may at application time not have an MEA, this is simply due to the fact that the parcel it relates to has to go through the redigitising process.  Once this is complete the appropriate MEA will be assigned based on the information provided by the applicant and the review of the imagery that the Department has for the land in question.