Inclusive of amendments of 30 September 2008, of 15 May 2009
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- Main Priority: Biodiversity
- Priority: Water management
- Priority: Climate Change
- Structure of the Scheme
- Broadband Initiative
- Broadband Initiative under the EERP
Apart from the allocation of the Health Check and European Economic Recovery Plan funds Ireland is addressing the challenges relating to dairy restructuring, renewable energies and water management with the introduction of a new scheme titled “Targeted Agricultural Moderniation Scheme [TAMS] under measure 121 of Axis 1 of the RDP.Under the scheme [TAMS] six new incentives will be on offer to meet the challenges of maintaining competitiveness in the agri-sector and with a linkage to animal welfare and environmental requirements. Main Priority: BiodiversityThe emphasis on biodiversity has been maintained in order to consolidate the benefit already achieved in this area. The first National Biodiversity Plan (2002-2006), published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DEHLG), identified over 90 actions deemed necessary to help halt the loss of Ireland’s biodiversity. Thirty-nine of those actions fell within the remit of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food, under broad headings such as agriculture, forestry and conservation of genetic resources. An interim review published in 2006 recorded actions already taken. These include:
In May 2008 the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DEHLG) published a major study that it had commissioned, examining the social and economic aspects of biodiversity in Ireland. It considered various major sectors including agriculture, forestry, climate change and infrastructure development. By comparing the value of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity and the cost of biodiversity protection policies, this report established a marginal value of biodiversity in Ireland of at least €2.6 billion per year. The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) within the DEHLG has been working extensively on the second National Biodiversity Plan. They carried out a wide-ranging consultation process and circulated relevant stakeholders (such as DAFF) suggestions taken from submissions of interest, which responded with their observations. DAFF participates in discussions with DEHLG on progressing these issues. Work on this Plan is a current priority for the NPWS, which expects publication of the Plan by early 2010. Traditional landscapes in Ireland reflect the fact that Irish agriculture is predominantly grass-based and extensive. Any risk to the preservation of traditional landscapes is in fact more likely to take the form of abandonment of land as a result of decoupling and the trend towards part-time farming. That risk will be offset by the obligation under the Single Payment Scheme to keep land in good agricultural and environmental condition, but this will be supplemented in the agri environmental measures with a requirement for a minimum level of farming activity. Although DAFF is not the primary responsible authority for the preservation of diversity in bird species, it works closely with DEHLG and organisations such as Bird Watch Ireland on this issue. Ireland’s agri-environment measures protect wild bird and animal populations through several of its elements, particularly the requirements for retention and management of habitats. There are also supplementary measures designed specifically to conserve bird populations, such as measures for protection of the corncrake and for the growing of food for wild birds through the LINNET23 project. Other REPS measures aimed at enhancing and protecting biodiversity generally also benefit bird populations through preserving habitats and food supplies: e.g. measures dealing with, habitats, field margins, and biodiversity options such as nature corridors, species-rich grassland and tree planting. The emphasis on biodiversity has been retained and increased in REPS4 which was introduced in 2007. Furthermore, under the proposed new Agri-Environmental Options scheme (AEOS), a specific measure relates to the conservation of wild bird habitat for the corncrake, for which farming practice developed by Bird Watch Ireland must be followed. And the action on LINNET (Land Invested in Nature, Natural, Eco-Tillage) should encourage the small-scale production of cereal plots as a food source for farmland bird populations. To continue in line with the original RDP for the period 2007-2013 which already prioritises actions associated with biodiversity, water management and climate change, through its Axis 2 measures the new AEOS offers support to continue and consolidate the success of previous investments in these areas. Though the existing Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS 4) was closed from July 2009 the benefits of this scheme and of the previous REPS scheme will still accrue as the contractual scheme arrangements with the existing beneficiaries, of which there are approximately 62,000, will remain in force over the coming years.Priority: Water managementIreland’s water quality compares well with that of most other EU countries although there is evidence of slight or moderate pollution in certain rivers and lakes. Rising population levels and continued socio-economic development have led to an increased demand on the water supply, both from domestic and commercial users. While ongoing investment in water infrastructure throughout the country is required, there is also a need to develop innovative solutions for improved water management at a decentralised, local level, including at individual farm level. Various sectors in the economy have responsibilities in maintaining the quality and management of water and in recognition of the agricultural sector’s contributory role it is proposed under AEOS, under a proposed operation titled “Provision of Alternative Water Sources for bovines” to safeguard water quality. This action will require, among other things, that bovines be denied access to drinking points on lands adjacent to watercourses. The farmer must fence off any access to drinking points on the watercourse and install water troughs with piped water. The troughs must be in a suitable location well back from watercourse. Priority: Climate ChangeUnder AEOS the selection of these measures is also influenced by the ongoing discussions on climate change. The projected impacts of climate change are set out in the EU Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the White Paper on Climate Change Adaptation, Adapting to Climate Change; the challenge for European agriculture and rural areas [Brussels 1 April 2009, SEC (2009) 147]. This paper alerts us to the possibility of reduced capacity to produce food in many regions due to drought, flooding and soil erosion, while conditions for food production could, in the medium term, improve in others - including Ireland. The Report acknowledges that overall net effects on farm activities will vary across the EU and between farm types within the same region. Given the absence of prolonged extreme weather conditions in Ireland the proposed schemes of trailing shoe technology, green cover, min-till and arable margins are regarded as a most suitable to our agricultural and environmental needs. Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS) - General Agri-environmental payments play an important role in supporting sustainable development in rural areas and in responding to society’s increasing demand for environmental services. This measure is intended to encourage farmers to continue to apply agricultural production methods compatible with the protection of the environment, the landscape and its features. This scheme builds on the success of previous actions both under the 2000-2006 Programme and this Programme with an increased emphasis on pro-active biodiversity management, water management and climate, and with the objective of further addressing the new challenges. Structure of the SchemeThe structure of the scheme allows farmers to choose options which best suit their holdings. From a suite of possible actions an applicant may propose a set of actions which will attract payment up to a pre-determined maximum amount. This suite of actions reflects Ireland’s decision to prioritise biodiversity, water management and climate change. Under this particular measure emphasis is placed on the biodiversity challenge followed by water quality and climate change. The Department will determine the set of actions most appropriate to the applicant having regard to the imperative to obtain the maximum environmental benefit. Selection Criteria will be used to limit uptake to farming prescriptions which represent the best and most appropriate value for the funds available. Broadband Initiative‘Building Ireland’s Smart Economy – A Framework for Sustainable Economic Recovery’24 acknowledges that broadband is a key enabling infrastructure for knowledge-intensive services activities on which future prosperity will increasingly depend. Broadband can provide ready access to national and international markets and help with employment creation and fostering an entrepreneurial spirit, which is essential to the knowledge economy. Rural broadband in particular can help to improve the quality of life for rural residents and strengthen rural communities. Ireland currently has over 1.3 million subscribers to broadband so that penetration levels are approximating EU and OECD averages. There has been a large increase in uptake in recent years. For example in 2008 62 percent of households (with at least one person aged 16 – 74) had a computer connected to the Internet and 43 percent of households had broadband access. These figures have both increased since 2005 from 45 percent and 7 percent respectively. More than two-thirds of Internet connections in 2008 were broadband, whereas in 2005 this was less than 20 percent. 25 However there are differences in the level of broadband access between densely populated (urban) areas and thinly populated (rural) areas. Almost 90 percent of households with an Internet connection in densely populated areas had broadband compared to less than 45 percent in thinly populated areas. While investment in broadband is mainly a matter for the private sector, there are a number of areas where the State should incentivise or facilitate investment, in line with the Consultation Paper on Next Generation Networks published in July 2008. For example, the Department of Communications Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR), with the support of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), are running the National Broadband Scheme (NBS). It aims to provide broadband services to the areas of Ireland that are currently not served by any broadband provider, and ensure that every reasonable request for broadband in these unserved areas is met. This is around 10 percent of the population and approximately 33 percent of the area of the country, or around 223,000 residential, commerical and business premises. The scheme is part funded by ERDF. DCENR carried out extensive and detailed mapping exercises of the areas covered by the existing Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), fixed and mobile wireless broadband operators, as part of the planning and design of the NBS 26. Approximately 12,500 premises, which were not covered by existing broadband service providers, were excluded from the scheme, as the area in which they were located were already deemed substantially covered. However, it has since been recognised that due to local obstacles or technical issues there are also premises that would appear to be in a covered area, but are not able to avail of the coverage from the existing broadband operators. While there is no substantiated estimate of the number of consumers who find themselves in this situation, DCENR expects that the total number is unlikely to exceed the number of unserved premises identified in the NBS mapping exercise. Accordingly, DCENR expects, for planning purposes, that approximately 25,000 consumers might be eligible for the Rural Broadband Reach Scheme (RBR). Despite the substantial coverage in the local areas in which these premises are located, these premises remain unserved. The unserved premises in question are generally in low population density rural locations, and are dispersed in nature, and the deployment of additional infrastructure to serve these isolated customers would be difficult to justify under normal open market economic criteria. Broadband Initiative under the EERPThis initiative is proposed to incentivise the provision of broadband services to individual premises which, for such reasons as those outlined above are unable to receive a broadband service from any of the service providers already operating in their areas. The intervention proposed would be a scheme whereby a grant (to cover the cost of extending a SP’s network to the premise, subject to a defined maximum) would be payable to any service provider that extended its network to cover the “unreachable” premise. The grant would also be payable to any service provider who is currently serving the area but whose initial connection costs are deemed to be prohibitively expensive (e.g. satellite service providers). The scheme would complement Ireland’s previous broadband intervention initiatives and would, subject to the market responding to the grant scheme, ensure that all premises in Ireland would be served by a service provider. In compliance with the EERP rules, only those areas deemed to be “rural” would be included in applications for EERP funding. Such a scheme will address the policy objectives of enhanced economic and social inclusion for rural areas and underpin the competitiveness of the rural areas addressed by the scheme. Broadband – Demarcation and State Aid. Under demarcation the following issues will be addressed to ensure that there is no “double support” and in order to qualify, applicants must: -
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