Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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320. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason such a harsh penalty was applied to persons (details supplied) in County Mayo in view of their circumstances. [35105/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The objective of the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme – Suckler (BEEP - S) is to further increase economic and environmental efficiency in the suckler herd through better quality data on herd performance, supporting decision making on farm and support of best practice in welfare management.

In addition to the mandatory weighing requirement, participants had the choice of a number of additional animal welfare measures. One of these involves the introduction of meal feeding for a period of four weeks pre-weaning and two weeks post-weaning, to reduce the stress on calves at weaning time and record the action. This action when selected must be carried out on all the calves that had their weights submitted under the scheme and is paid at a rate of €30 per calf. For the 2021 scheme, the persons named selected this option. 

As part of the scheme’s administrative control checks a number of participants who selected the meal feeding option, including the persons named, were requested to submit meal purchase receipts (or evidence of use of own farm produced cereals) for the number of calves that were weighed as part of the scheme. Records subsequently submitted showed that the required meal feeding had only been carried out on 11 of the 13 calves submitted for payment under the scheme.  Two calves had been sold prior to the action being completed. 

The scheme Terms and Conditions state:

"Failure to produce or forward the records when requested will be a breach of the programme obligations and will result in no payments for the relevant year and a 50% administrative penalty based on the overall amount which would have been payable in the year for that action will be imposed."

As the required records for the 13 calves put forward for payment were not submitted, the meal feeding option was not eligible for a payment of €390 and an additional penalty of €195 was deducted from payments made under the scheme.

This decision was notified to the persons named by letter on 2^ndMarch 2022. This letter also informed them of their right to have the matter reviewed should the so wish. To-date no such review has been requested.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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321. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason a person (details supplied) was penalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35110/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Farmers are required, on an annual basis, to submit a Basic Payment Scheme application to support their claim for all area based payment schemes.  This application must detail the lands being farmed in the current year including any commonage lands.

The Department is required to ensure that all claimants on commonage land have the required documentary evidence to support their right to claim.  In recent years commonages in the townland of Dunloe Upper, Co. Kerry have been reviewed to ensure that all claimants have the required evidence.  

The above named individual submitted a BPS application on 13th April 2021.  Due to a query regarding the rights on his commonage,the applicant was only paid on his lowland, both at the time of advance BPS payments in October 2021 and balancing BPS payments in December 2021.  No penalty was applied on his payments and the remaining monies due on the commonage were paid in full in April 2022.

Officials from my Department have spoken to the above named individual in recent days to explain that no penalties were applied and all outstanding monies under BPS, Greening and ANC have been paid.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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322. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will commit to providing adequate funding for Pillar 2 schemes to ensure all farmers who apply for the recently announced agri-climate rural environment scheme will get accepted to the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35141/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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A new agri-environmental scheme to be known as the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (‘ACRES’), has been proposed as part of Ireland’s draft CAP Strategic Plan which is currently with the EU Commission for approval. We have committed €1.5 billion in funding for the scheme over the lifetime of the next CAP - the largest single investment by any Government in an agri-environmental scheme.

This Government has previously committed to total funding for the CSP 2023-2027 of €9.83 billion. The total national funding and the level of co-financing are both significantly higher than applied under the previous CAP programme - over a seven-year period the funding is almost €1.2 billion higher, an increase of nearly 30%, over the 2014-2020 RDP.

ACRES will be a farmer-friendly scheme that will help address biodiversity decline while delivering an important income support for up to 50,000 farm families.

Using a habitats-based approach, delivered through both multi-functional prescription and results-based actions, ACRES aims to contribute significantly to achieving improved biodiversity, climate, air and water quality outcomes. These will be achieved through two approaches under the scheme:

- an ACRES General approach offering a range of actions (both prescription and results-based) for individual farmers to choose from; and

- an ACRES Co-operation Project approach, available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas, who opt to undertake measures, as well as bespoke farm, and landscape actions. Farmers participating in this approach will have the assistance of a Local Cooperation Project (CP) Team, who will assist with implementation of the scheme at local level.

It should be noted that approval for Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan is awaited from the EU Commission, so all of the proposals may be subject to change and will be subject to the annual budgetary cycle. I look forward to engaging with farmers and advisors later in the summer in advance of the scheme formally opening.