Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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362. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount drawn down to date under the compensation package relating to flooding on the Shannon Callows; if consideration will be given to disbursing the remaining amount to those who were initially refused compensation on the basis of a Department mapping assessment of their application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22217/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Following exceptional flooding in the Shannon Callows during the summer of 2023, on the 7th of November 2023 the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme was announced as a once-off measure. The aim of the scheme was to support farmers who had lost fodder due to flooding in the region during summer 2023. My Department contacted the farmers that the Area Monitoring System (AMS) identified as having been significantly impacted by the flooding, providing them with a simple application form for them to sign and return if they wished to apply for the support. To receive payment Farmers were asked to confirm they had lost fodder as a result of the exceptional flooding. The AMS examined satellite imagery from July to September 2023 as part of this process.

Funding of approximately €800,000 was allocated allowing for a payment rate of €325 per hectare. LPIS parcels in the Shannon Callows determined to have been significantly impacted by my Department's Area Monitoring System must also have been claimed by farmers on their 2023 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) application. This was subject to a minimum area affected of 1ha and a maximum of 15ha and only applied to lands within the Shannon Callows SAC. My Department has paid out €768,833 to date.

My Department has issued payments in line with the Terms & Conditions of the scheme and it is not foreseen that payments will issue outside the parameters set out.