Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the payments made to date under the areas of natural constraints scheme by county. [51172/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The detailed county by county breakdown requested by the Deputy follows and will be entered into the record. To date in 2018, a total of €219.2 million has been paid to some 91,190 farmers.

The total allocation for Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme has been increased by €48million over the course of the last two Budgets, with the result that the allocation has been restored to pre-downturn levels. In 2018, payment levels across all categories of land in the Scheme were increased, with the highest level of increases being targeted at those areas faced with the highest levels of constraint.

For 2019, the Scheme is being redesigned in line with the requirements of the EU Regulations, and as part of this process payment rates across all categories of land will be increased again. This change requires a formal amendment to the Rural Development Programme (RDP), and I have now submitted the new payment rates to the Monitoring Committee for the RDP as part of this process. As with the 2018 increases, higher increases will be targeted at those areas facing the highest level of constraint on their land.