Commonage Negotiations.

In response to a question from Sean Kyne TD the Minister for Agriculture descried the progress to date on negotiations between the farm organisations, his Department and the NPWS. This is a welcome development and it is to be hoped that an agreement can be reached in time to allow commonage farmers to enter GLAS in the Autumn. The full test of the exchange between Sean Kyne TD and the Minister is shown below.

Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Information on Simon Coveney Zoom on Simon Coveney the negotiations that have taken place between his Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht regarding the implementation of the commonage review; if liaison committees are proposed for the shareholders of each commonage in conjunction with his Department, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and farm organisations; the timescale for the implementation; if he acknowledges that every commonage requires a different plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13946/14]

Deputy Seán Kyne: Will the Minister outline the negotiations that have taken place between his Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on the implementation of the commonage review? Have liaison committees been set up for discussions between the shareholders in each commonage in conjunction with his Department, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and farm organisations?

Deputy Simon Coveney: This is an ongoing process about which I spoken to the Deputy on several occasions. This is a sensitive issue as there are thousands of commonages across the country. We have a new commonage framework programme that needs to be implemented in partnership with the farmers in question and the National Parks and Wildlife Service which has a role to ensure commonages are farmed appropriately. If they are overgrazed, stocking rates should be reduced, while if they are undergrazed, which is the case in respect of much commonage land, stocking rates need to be increased. The complication arises if multiple farmers are farming the same commonage as one then has to get agreement from a majority of them. If necessary, we will go commonage by commonage and sit down at local meetings to bring people on board with the scheme. Farmers will not receive an instruction on the programme from me by letter and it will not be introduced by enforcement. We have had 18 months of discussions to see how best we can do this with farming organisations and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to introduce the programme in as sensible and practical as a way to get the right result both for farmers and the environment. The Deputy will see a partnership between farming organisations and my Department to get it right.

Deputy Seán Kyne: When will the liaison with farmers start? There is concern among the farmers in question in advance of next year about the GLAS, green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, and stocking rates. I appreciate the Minister's letter last week to allow farmers to qualify for the disadvantaged areas scheme within certain environmentally restricted schemes in Connemara and County Mayo. There are concerns, however, in commonage areas as to when the discussions will take place and when a solution will be finally implemented in order that the farmers in question will know where they are going.

Deputy Simon Coveney: The important point is that the European Commission sees progress in this area. There has been progress as the liaison process is under way, but there will be difficult commonage areas that will require local public meetings to be held. We are planning that structure with the farming organisations in order that it can be rolled out over time. Implementation of the new commonage framework proposals will not happen overnight, as the Commission will understand. Most of the commonages will sort themselves out, but there will be potential problem areas in the Deputy's county which will have to be dealt with sensitively

Dormancy Rates on Irish Commonages

Analysis of 2012 LPIS data showing commonages and Herd No.'s declaring commonage shares.

County          Area        Ref Area            No.                       Herd               % of                Dormancy
                                                                   of                          No's           Commonage             Rate
                                                           Commonage                with              claimed
                                                           Land Parcels         Commonage
                                                                                   
Carlow           2550.90         2417.58        35                          183                  66.04                    33.96
Cavan             4804.44        4708.52         67                          137                  55.67                    44.33
Clare               5040.61       4412.51         190                         376                 70.65                     29.35
Cork             20100.09      17466.26        552                          909                 68.92                    31.08
Donegal       74559.86      70729.13       1278                       2571                 63.62                     26.38
Dublin           2320.07         2273.91         11                           40                   40.66                    59.34
Galway        67670.65       61413.00       1389                      2713                 59.63                     40.37
Kerry.           65462.76       60793.98        843                      1935                 71.26                     28.74
Kildare          1586.48          1292.59        13                           35                   53.76                    46.24
Kilkenny         538.65           517.06           9                           33                   87.68                    12.32
Laois             1898.33         1130.25          31                          97                   44.59                    55.41
Leitrim        12701.55       12561.77         172                       484                   68.23                    31.77
Limerick       2235.26          2178.56         26                         65                    42.71                    57.29
Longford         401.79            371.86         23                         60                   72.37                     27.63
Louth             2901.01          2775.21        27                        153                   35.81                     64.19
Mayo         107743.37      103712.59     1431                      3297                  62.33                     37.67
Meath.               96.49              93.40          4                         12                    38.96                     61.04
Monaghan.        14.11                0.90          2                           2                      1.96                     98.04
Offaly              407.68            342.81         23                        37                    64.14                     35.86
Roscommon  1393.89          1308.61         86                       151                   53.49                     44.51
Sligo            12779.36        12218.45       207                       454                   69.43                     30.57
Tipperary     11714.23       11257.31        131                       319                   70.48                    29.52
Waterford      9418.01         9236.48         63                        181                    65.26                    34.74
Westmeath      165.61               93.55       12                         22                     63.32                    26.68
Wexford        2758.77           2625.55       31                        108                    60.24                    39.76
Wicklow      24714.36        24255.76       137                       341                    50.72                    49.28

TOTAL    435978.32       410187.60      6793                   14632                   63.30                   36.70

Adapted from NPWS Submission on CAP reform May 2013.

The table above shows the area of commonage in each county along with the number of shareholders declaring commonage shares in 2012. Interestingly this table gives us detailed information on the % of commonage land claimed and this allows us to determine the extent of dormant shares on a county basis. We can see that the National Average of 63.3% of commonage area claimed in 2012 masks a large variation from county to county. Of the main commonage counties the % claimed was as low as 50.72% in Wicklow rising to a high of 71.26% in Kerry.

This analysis suggests that the dormancy rate on a national level is 36.7%. Leaving aside Monaghan where the very small areas involved contribute to an atypical dormancy rate the county with the highest dormancy rate is Louth with 64.19% of commonage land unclaimed. Considering the large amount of commonage land particularly in the Cooley peninsula this is surprising and will be locally problematic. At the other end of the spectrum the dormancy rate in Kilkenny is 12.32% and in Kerry, an important commonage county it is only 28.74%.

Obviously within each county there would also be considerable variation as the usage pattern on each commonage would vary. What is clear however is that the dormancy issue will be a significant factor in developing commonage management structures throughout the country. This requires clarification on how the qualified majority required for setting up a grazing association can be met. If the 80% referred to in the draft proposals refers to total shareholders then we have a big problem, as no county has 80% or more shares declared. If the qualified majority is 80% of the shareholders declaring commonage on their SPS return then this issue is eased somewhat.

The Dept. of Agriculture should clarify not only how the qualified majority is to be calculated but also how farmers on commonages with large dormancy rates are going to be compensated for the extra difficulties that they face. In particular how shareholders who are required to maintain all of the area in GAEC, yet between them may only be eligible for payments on 60% or less of the reference area. Surely there is a case here for making these farmers eligible for GLAS+ payments.

Publication of the National Peatlands Strategy

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has announced the publication of the National Peatlands Strategy. This document will guide the policies of all Govt. Departments in the management of raised bogs, blanket bogs, heaths and fens throughout the country. It encompasses peatlands that are in state ownership, Bord na Mona bogs, privately owned land and commonage. The approach that will be taken in respect of both SAC/ NHA designated sites and undesignated peatlands are dealt with in the document. The strategy and associated documents can be accessed by following the link below.

http://www.ahg.gov.ie/en/PressReleases/2014/January2014PressReleases/htmltext,17366,en.html