Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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160. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the 100,000 haof non-carbon soils (mineral soils) included in the GAEC 2 standard will be subject to the same regulations as carbon soils with regard to ploughing, reseeding, drainage and fertiliser use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13813/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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GAEC 2 is a baseline requirement under the CAP regulations for the protection of carbon rich soils. It 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. 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 farmer's right to continue with agricultural activity on this land.

Conditionality requirements must be controlled at land parcel level. Trying to isolate parts of the parcel where actions could or could not take place is not practical and would be very difficult to control. It would also be very difficult for the farmer have certainty on which parts of a field were either in or out of the standard.

If a farmer believes that their parcel should be split, they can do so when making their BISS application.

If a farmer believes that a land parcel has been incorrectly 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 bring 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.