Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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599. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on the scale of commonage dormancy in Ireland; if there are any individual commons parcels where all shareholdings have become dormant; what plans exist for these commons and if he would like; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5889/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Each year farmers through the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes application are required to declare all lands that they farm, including commonages.

Specifically for commonage land, farmers are required to provide evidence of their right to declare the land by the provision of supporting legal documentation such as a land folio. They are also required to declare the specific agricultural activity that they are carrying out on those lands. While the predominant activity is livestock grazing, farmers may choose to maintain the lands in other ways, for example habitat restoration, if that is what is required on the commonage.

In 2024 under area-based schemes, in excess of 430,000 ha of eligible commonages were declared with approximately 80% of this area being claimed. The unclaimed area is typically due to dormant shareholders and farmers not carrying out an agricultural activity on particular commonages. If none of the applicants on a commonage carry out agricultural activities, then the whole commonage becomes ineligible for payment in the year in question.

The continuing management of commonages by farmers is critical to ensure that these habitats are managed and maintained. In addition to BISS, result-based payments under ACRES reward farmers based on the quality of the habitat on the commonage. Habitat quality is assessed at the land parcel level by the local Cooperation Project (CP) Team using specifically designed scorecards.

It is of critical importance that farmers continue to be supported to farm commonages and I will continue to engage with farmers on these lands to ensure that the most appropriate supports are in place to make sure that these lands are not abandoned.