Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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185. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 223 and 224 of 26 October 2017 if this information has been collated. [49645/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The information requested is detailed, is being collated and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

In relation to GLAS the Department aims to pay as many farmers as possible their 2017 advance payment. This is dependent on all applicants providing the necessary material to qualify for payment. All GLAS applications must pass regulatory controls and validations as is the case with all EU co-funded schemes. Each application must pass the necessary checks, including the commonage check where applicable, before it can be approved for payment.

Information sessions for GLAS Advisors on the GLAS commonage online system were held and a video demonstrating the system is available on my Department's website. To date over 1,900 plans have been created on the CMP online system. The system remains open and available. 3,800 commonages are included in the GLAS Scheme. There are issues with a small number of cases and these are being resolved on an ongoing basis.

The main issue holding up the payment of outstanding 2016 claims, which will also hold up 2017 advance payments, is the fact that some participants have not yet submitted a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP). This is a core requirement of participation in GLAS. As of November 17th there were 3,800 NMPs outstanding. All GLAS participants with outstanding NMPs have been contacted and urged to attend to this urgently so that outstanding balancing payments and future payments can issue and to ensure ongoing participation in the GLAS Scheme.