Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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1273. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if including mineral soil in good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC) standard 2, meets the objectives set out in Irelands CAP Strategic Plan, which states the main objective of GAEC standard 2 is the protection of carbon rich soils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11812/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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GAEC 2 is a baseline requirement and is legally required to be put in place for 2025 as part of the conditionality requirements for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) payment scheme. If Ireland does not introduce this standard now, we will be in serious breach of the EU regulations governing the CAP Strategic Plans. This would lead to significant and recurring financial penalties until resolved.

The proposal which my Department has submitted to the European Commission for approval aims to strike the balance between the vital protection of peatlands and wetlands, and the farmers right to continue with agricultural activity on this land.

The proposal aims to ensure this while delivering on the legal requirement to introduce a baseline standard to protect carbon rich soils. Uppermost in my mind has been ensuring farmers can continue to engage in normal agricultural practices while meeting this requirement.

Regarding your question on the inclusion of some mineral soils, conditionality requirements must be controlled at land parcel level. Trying to isolate parts of the parcel where activities can or cannot not take place is not practical and would be very difficult to control. If a farmer believes that their parcel should be split, or that it should not be included in the standard, they can appeal to my Department. However, if 50% or more of the parcel is identified in the map, then it is in scope.

To apply a different threshold than the 50% rule for GAEC 2 would either pull in far more mineral soils into the standard, or leave too much peat soils outside of the protection of the standard. I believe this percentage strikes the right balance.

The proposed map is well-understood and has been in use for many years. A clear, parcel approach based on well-understood maps is a fair way to ensure that we get the required protection in place without any uncertainty as to the requirements, or where they apply. It is in all our interests for farmers to have certainty.

The proposal does not prohibit any of the common practices that these lands are typically subject to. For grassland, reseeding is still possible, as is maintenance and repair of existing drains. New drains are also allowed, subject to the relevant planning legislation, which is already a requirement.