240. Deputy Noel Coonan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine why a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary was refused entry to the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme; the options available to the person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2103/16]

An application from the person-named was received by my Department under the first tranche of GLAS. The applicant selected two actions, i.e. Low Input Permanent Pasture (LIPP) and Traditional Orchards.

Following the pre-approval validation checking process, the Low Input Permanent Pasture action was deemed ineligible as the parcel had not been declared as forage for the previous eight years as required under the GLAS scheme specifications. Without this action, the application did not meet the minimum required score of 16.3 and was therefore deemed ineligible for participation in the scheme. The applicant is free to seek a review of this decision, or to appeal it to the Agriculture Appeals Office. While I understand that he did not apply again under the second tranche of GLAS which closed before Christmas, the option is always there to make a new application under the next tranche of the scheme, and choosing actions that will improve his chances of success.