The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, announced today, that the new €1.4bn agri-environment scheme GLAS, will open on Monday.

Minister Coveney said his announcement marked the end of what had been a long and complex process of negotiation with the European Commission, out of which the new scheme has emerged virtually unchanged and strongly endorsed.  

A total of €1.4bn has been allocated to GLAS over the lifetime of the programme, allowing a standard ‘package’ of up to € 5,000 for eligible farmers per annum, with an additional package of €2,000 per annum for those in GLAS+, in return for exceptional environmental commitment.

“While the formal approval process for the RDP as a whole has still to be completed, we now have a very clear understanding with the European Commission as to the shape of the new scheme, its priorities, the actions that should be applied and the rates of payment that will be made”, the Minister said.   He continued, “Having reached this level of agreement, and in order to allow maximum time for farmers to prepare their proposals, I have decided to launch GLAS from Monday morning when preparation of applications can commence.” 

The completed proposals may then be formally submitted when the first tranche opens, following confirmation of the agreed content of the Rural Development Programme, which is expected shortly.

The inclusion of an Agri Environment Climate Change Measure is compulsory under the Rural Development Regulation and no Rural Development Programme can be approved without first satisfying that requirement.

GLAS, which is co-funded by the EU, is an ambitious measure that aims to deliver overarching benefits in terms of the rural environment, focusing in particular on the preservation of habitats and species, on climate change mitigation, and on water quality.  It marks a new departure for agri-environmental schemes, introducing a highly targeted approach, pinpointing in advance the key priority environmental assets that we need to protect and support over the lifetime of this programme and linking these directly to the individual farmers who possess and maintain these on their land. 

The Minister announced that he was extending GLAS+ to all farms identified as habitats of endangered birds, including the hen harrier. This means that all such farmers will automatically receive up to €7,000 a year, if the area they have to manage is large enough.  

The Minister also said he was simplifying the application process for Commonage farmers.  The requirement for 50% participation has been reconfigured as a target, rather than an eligibility criterion, and all shareholders can now submit individual applications to join GLAS in their own right. Commonage advisers will also be given more time to complete the necessary plans.

The Minister said that the submission of individual applications to join GLAS by commonage shareholders would not be delayed while these plans were being prepared.  The full plan would still have to be submitted before any applications could be approved, but adopting this approach would provide more time to advisers need to prepare these plans. 

Minister Coveney concluded: “This is an exciting time. It’s the beginning of a new agri-environmental scheme and a very significant investment in rural Ireland, which will support families that have not yet felt the benefits of a recovering economy. It’s the beginning of a new way of doing business between the Department, agricultural advisers and farmers. I firmly believe it will deliver enormous dividends to rural Ireland, to the 30,000 Irish farmers we hope to see join GLAS in its first phase, and to the 20,000 more who will join in subsequent years.”   

Additional Information for Editors

Structure of the new Scheme

GLAS is structured around a hierarchy of three tiers, with Tier 1 receiving priority over Tier 2, and Tier 2 over Tier 3.  This structure is designed to ensure the targeted and prioritised delivery of environmental benefits drawing from the extensive preparatory analysis underlying the RDP. A summary outline of the Scheme Tiers and Actions is attached. 

Tier 1 is the most important Tier, comprising of all the Priority Environmental Assets identified for support through GLAS, targeting vulnerable landscapes (including commonages), important bird-species and protection of high-status watercourses.  Tier 1 also identifies a series of Priority Environmental Actions for specific cohorts of farmers, targeting climate change mitigation and farmland birds.  

Tier 2 is the next most important tier and focuses on water-quality, through protection of predetermined vulnerable water-courses, while also accepting proposals from other farmers who are prepared to take on predetermined actions again targeting climate change mitigation and supporting farmland birds.

Tier 3 comprises a menu of complementary environmental actions for applicants approved into Tiers 1 and 2, as well as a channel for entry to the Scheme in its own right.   It consists of actions such as the protection of traditional hay meadows, species-rich pastures, important landscape features like archaeological monuments, hedgerows and stone-walls, as well as provision of bird, bat and bee nesting facilities and the planting of small groves of native trees.  

There is an internal hierarchy within GLAS of ‘Assets over Actions’. For example, in the case of Tier 1, expenditure will be targeted at the Priority Environmental Assets first before accepting intake from farmers adopting the Priority Environmental Actions.

Budget and Payment Structure

A total of €1.45bn has been allocated to GLAS over the lifetime of the Programme (period to 2020). GLAS is structured as a ‘package’ and offers a maximum payment of €5,000 per applicant per full calendar year, except where GLAS+ applies. In this case, some farmers undertaking particularly challenging actions may qualify for GLAS+ and for a top-up payment of up to €2,000 per year. Typically GLAS+ will apply where more than one Priority Environmental Asset exists on the farm and the combined cost of addressing these exceeds €5,000.  However, in the case if the various bird-species identified as at risk (including the hen harrier) it will be possible to drawdown payment of up to €7,000 a year on these alone. 

It is anticipated that some 50,000 farmers will ultimately join GLAS.                                                                             

See additional information on tiers & payment rates in pdf attachment:   Additional Info for Editors - Tiers and rates (pdf 385Kb) 

View this Press Release as a PDF: DAFMPR 28/2015 (pdf 686Kb) 

Date Released: 23 February 2015