Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2012
496. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine the reason the hedgerow and tree elements of the agri environment options scheme have been removed under the scheme launched on 26 September 2012; the estimated numbers affected by such a move; the estimated savings from this move; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42722/12]
View answerI have decided that the re-opened Agri-environment Options Scheme (AEOS) will operate largely on the same basis as in previous years and that the same measures and rates of payment will be available, including the measures providing for hedgerow and tree planting. Details of the scheme which I announced with funding of €20m will be available on the Department’s website in the next day or two. The closing date for applications is 30 November and my aim is to ensure that all applications are processed with a view to approving the new participants in the scheme with effect from 1 April 2013.
