Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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1442. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the 2019 pearl mussel scheme payments have not issued to farmers that were part of the Kerrylife project (details supplied); if payments will now be issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21988/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Pearl Mussel Project is operationally independent of my Department and is run by the Pearl Mussel Project Team. The information below is sourced from the Project Team.

The Pearl Mussel Project forms part of the ‘after-LIFE’ component of the KerryLIFE project. As the first year of the Pearl Mussel Project 2019 overlapped with the final year of the KerryLIFE programme, KerryLIFE farmers were given priority access to the Pearl Mussel Programme, i.e. their access was ensured. To avoid any risk of double-funding, no results-based payments were made by the Pearl Mussel Project to KerryLIFE farmers for 2019 while they were still in contract with and in receipt of payments from KerryLIFE.

In order to provide an opportunity for KerryLIFE participants to maximise their habitat scores, and therefore payments, in 2020, all KerryLIFE farms were scored by their nominated advisor in 2019. We can confirm that the KerryLIFE project issued payments to all of the former KerryLIFE farmers who signed up to the Pearl Mussel Project to cover the costs associated with these surveys. All 453 farmers that are currently in the Pearl Mussel Programme, which includes 37 farmers that were previously in KerryLIFE, will receive a results-based payment later this year.