Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for giving me an opportunity to clarify this issue. GLAS is a large, flagship scheme which has been open for some time and for which the deadline for the receipt of applications is one week from now.

Following successful negotiations with the European Commission, I opened the GLAS online application system on 23 February for the preparation of applications, with the intention of activating the submit facility once formal approval of the rural development programme as a whole had been notified. Approval has since been received in the form of a letter of comfort from the Commission. The submit facility was activated last week and applications can now be formally submitted.

The initial response to GLAS is positive and I am pleased to note that, as of this morning, 29,406 applications had been created on the GLAS online application system. Of this number, more than 20,000 applicants selected actions and are, therefore, well on the way to submitting a completed application. This is a remarkable achievement by all involved, including farmers, planners and the departmental officials working to implement to scheme.

On the basis of progress to date, I anticipate that in the region of 25,000 completed applications will be submitted before the closing date of 22 May. This figure is very much in line with earlier projections. After the closing date, my Department will begin validating, ranking and selecting GLAS applications. As set out in the scheme's terms and conditions, candidates from tier 1 will receive priority access to the scheme, followed by tier 2 and, in turn, tier 3 candidates who undergo a separate selection process, as required under the terms of the approved rural development programme.  However, as commonage farmers have until the end of August to submit their completed commonage management plans which are a prerequisite for approval to participate in GLAS, notification of approvals will not take place until after that date.  All applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application.

I anticipate that GLAS contracts will commence from 1 October, with estimated expenditure on the scheme of €20 million in 2015. In the case of those who are unable to submit an application before the deadline, as sometimes occurs for good reason, we plan to reopen GLAS for submissions in September. This means, for example, that if we take 25,000-----

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