Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

767. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider changing the criteria of appeal regarding ANC payments for persons who ticked the wrong box and made a clerical error online but whose difficulties have not been rectified through the appeals process which is only of benefit if farmers were ill or incapacitated at the time but not to those who made a simple error while using the online system; his views on the fact that many farmers have made such errors since they were forced to do the applications online in 2018 such as persons (details supplied); if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the number of farmers who met the stocking density but who were not paid more than doubled from 109 in 2018 to 239 in 2019; if his attention has been further drawn to the hardship that this lack of payment caused; his further views on whether the current inability of his Department to put in systems to address this problem is a serious administrative flaw; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48109/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme is an EU co-funded scheme and is governed by the relevant EU Regulations. Those regulations require that to participate in the scheme, an application to participate in the scheme must be made when completing an application for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) via the single application system available on the Department's on-line facility, www.agfood.ie, by the relevant closing date.

The EU regulations set out the criteria against which appeals may be considered by the Department under the grounds of Force Majeure and Exceptional Circumstances and these criteria must be applied by my Department in accordance with the regulations.

The appeals process allows for both an appeal to officials of the Department, and the option of a further appeal to the Agriculture Appeals Office should an applicant not be satisfied with the decision of the Department and this option was availed of by both of the persons named. This office is an independent office established to provide farmers with an appeals service to farmers who are dissatisfied with decisions made by the Department concerning designated schemes operated by the Department.

My Department has continuously sought to improve and refine the application systems in place to ensure that the application process for all schemes administered by my Department are as simple as possible and that assistance is available for applicants when submitting their application.

The application process for the Basic Payment Scheme requires applicants to confirm if they wish to apply for the ANC scheme or not by selecting one of two options “I want to apply for ANC” or “I do not want to apply for ANC”. The system will not allow an applicant for the BPS to progress past this point until they select one of these two options.

Where an applicant has selected “I do not want to apply for ANC” and had received payment under the scheme in the previous scheme year, they will be prompted with a message on screen to warn them that they had received payment under the scheme in the previous scheme year but have not applied in the current scheme year. They are advised that if they are eligible under the scheme and wish to apply they should select “I want to apply for ANC”. They are also advised that if they do not want to apply, they should select “I do not want to apply for ANC” to continue their BPS application.

For applications under the 2021 Scheme, my Department issued a Brief Guide to the 2021 Areas of Natural Constraints scheme to eligible 2020 scheme applicants. This guide included a section detailing how to apply for the 2021 scheme, including screen shots of the application process to aid people in submitting their application.

My Department has also made every effort to open the online application process at the earliest possible opportunity to provide applicants with as much time as possible to prepare and submit their ANC applications, or to make arrangements to seek assistance in submitting their application, such as using the services of an Agricultural Advisor to assist in the submission of their application.

For 2021, the application facility opened on the 18^thof February 2021. The deadline for receipt of applications under the 2021 scheme was the 17^thof May 2021.

My Department also operates a direct payments telephone helpdesk which applicants can contact for assistance in submitting their ANC application. Over the last number of years, the helpdesk has operated extended opening hours in advance of the closing date for submission of BPS/ANC applications.

In advance of the 2021 application deadline the helpdesk was open between 9.15am and 9.00pm from Monday 10^thMay to Friday 14^thMay, from 9.30am to 5.00pm on Saturday 15^thand Sunday 16^thMay and between 9.15am and 12 midnight on 17^thMay.

Between the years 2018 and 2020, the number of eligible applications under the ANC scheme increased from 103,393 to 104,790. The number of applicants paid under the scheme also increased from 95,802 applicants paid under the 2018 scheme to 99,588 currently paid under the 2019 scheme. The value of payments also increased between 2018 and 2019 from €229.3m in 2018 to €248m in 2019.

Currently a total of 98,800 applicants have been paid a total of €247m under the 2020 ANC scheme. My Department continues to carry out weekly payment runs in relation to the 2020 scheme year in order to issue payment to additional cases that become clear for payment. The number of farmers not receiving ANC payments for reasons other than stocking density remains low as a percentage of eligible applicants.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

768. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of cattle removed from the national herd arising from the beef exceptional aid measure by replacement index rating, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48110/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The objective of the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) was to provide temporary exceptional adjustment aid to farmers in the beef sector in Ireland subject to the conditions set out in EU Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1132. This aid was granted to provide temporary market adjustment support in response to a specific market disturbance as outlined in Ireland's notification to the EU Commission and the 5% reduction was part of the conditionality sought by the EU.

Total payments under BEAM were c. €77 million with just over 33,000 participants joining the scheme. In doing so, they gave a commitment to reduce the production of bovine livestock manure nitrogen on the holding by 5% for the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021 as compared with the reference period of 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 as recorded on the Department's AIM system.

Farmers could meet the 5% Nitrates reduction requirement through a variety of means including selling cattle as normal, selling cattle earlier that they might typically do, buying in cattle later and/or buying in younger cattle than they might normally do. There was no explicit requirement in the scheme that cattle had to be slaughtered to meet the 5% bovine nitrates reduction requirement.