THE FARMING organisations will make submissions on the new agri-environmental scheme to replace the Reps scheme which was closed to new entrants some weeks ago.
Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith has invited submissions on the contents of a new scheme, which has been submitted to Brussels and which will become operable next year.
The Irish Farmers’ Association brought thousands of members on to the streets in protest over the closure of the rural environment protection scheme, which was announced before the McCarthy report was released.
The scheme rewards farmers for farming in an environmentally friendly way and has been delivering farmers average payments of about €9,000 annually.
Yesterday, the Minister said in a statement that funding for the new scheme would include the additional modulation funds which he ensured would stay with Irish farmers in the recent negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy “healthcheck”.
He said an outline of the scheme had been sent to the European Commission as part of a set of proposals for an amended rural development programme. This followed an earlier consultation exercise about the use of the modulation funds. “The new scheme will consist of a menu of actions from which farmers can select options that will be suitable for their particular farms and farming systems,” Mr Smith said.
“The outline I have sent to the commission consists mostly of elements that will be familiar to farmers as elements of Reps, such as biodiversity options and supplementary measures,” he said.
The Minister said EU regulations identified certain challenges for which modulation money must be used. These included climate change, renewable energies, water management and biodiversity.
“The outline of the new scheme that has gone to the commission was designed to target these challenges,” Mr Smith added.
“I am now inviting stakeholders to comment on the detailed elements of the scheme and to put forward ideas that could be incorporated in the scheme to help deliver benefits in terms of water quality, biodiversity and climate change.”
The main farming groups have said they will make submissions before the September 4th deadline, despite reservations about the closure of the existing scheme.