Written answers

Tuesday, 1 December 2020

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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814. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers that were ruled out of the ANC scheme due to the fact they did not meet the stocking density criteria in each of the years 2015 to 2019 and to date in 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40360/20]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Under the terms and conditions of the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme, applicants must meet minimum stocking requirements to qualify for payment under the scheme. Not all eligible applicants to the scheme will necessarily satisfy all the scheme requirements in order to qualify for a payment. For example, many will make on-farm decisions in relation to their stocking rates which will impact on their eligibility for payment.

Please see below the details of the number of applicants for the scheme who held eligible ANC land but who did not satisfy the minimum stocking requirements by year. Please note that for scheme year 2020, applicants have until the end of the year to meet their minimum stocking requirements .

Scheme Year: Number of applicants who have not met the minimum stocking requirements:
2015 6,461
2016 5,221
2017 4,872
2018 5,547
2019 5,187
2020 9,825

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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815. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of active herd numbers that were eligible under the ANC in each of the years 2015 to 2019 and to date in 2020; the number of active herd numbers that received payments in those years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40361/20]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Please find the information requested in relation to the numbers of eligible applications received for the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) Scheme for the years 2015 to 2020 in the table below.

Year Number of applicants who hold ANC eligible land Number paid
2015 103,458 96,890
2016 100,537 95,287
2017 100,949 96,004
2018 101,379 95,723
2019 104,709 99,283
2020* 104,443 92,279

* Figures for the 2020 scheme year are as of the 27th November 2020.

Under the terms and conditions of the ANC scheme, applicants must meet minimum stocking requirements to qualify for payment under the scheme. Not all eligible applicants to the scheme will necessarily satisfy all the scheme requirements in order to qualify for a payment. For example, many will make management decisions in relation to their stocking rates which will impact on their eligibility for payment. For those applicants with eligible land in the table above who did not receive a payment, the vast majority of cases did not meet the minimum stocking density requirements of the scheme.

Payments in relation to the 2020 ANC scheme continue to be made as cases are cleared for payment. In addition, arrangements are now being finalised to issue the balancing payments due under the 2020 ANC Scheme in December.

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