Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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2232. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on a scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43920/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Since the time my Department was first approached with regard to the group commonly referred to as forgotten farmers, the group was defined as young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015, had established their holdings prior to 2008 and were not eligible for young farmer supports under the CAP from 2015.

In recognition of the withdrawal of the Installation Aid Scheme in October 2008, and following my Department’s consultation with the EU Commission, the then Minister announced in March 2015 that the group commonly known as ‘Old Young Farmers’, who established their holding between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2009, and who, due to the timeframe of setting up their holding did not benefit from either Installation Aid or the Young Farmer category of the National Reserve, could be considered as a ‘group suffering from specific disadvantage’. The result was that this group was eligible to apply for support under the National Reserve measure of the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme. Successful applicants under this category received an allocation of payment entitlements on land on which they held no entitlements, and a top-up to the national average value on existing entitlements that were below the national average.

Under the CAP from 2015 there were specific supports in place for young farmers. On the Pillar 1 Direct Payments side there was a ‘young farmer’ priority category under the National Reserve and there was also a separate Young Farmers Scheme to provide additional support to eligible young farmers for a period of up to five years. These supports were available to eligible young farmers who had established their holdings from 2010 onwards.