Some 1,301 of applicants who applied to increase their entitlements under a provision called the Scottish Derogation have been deemed unsuccessful by the Department of Agriculture.

The derogation provided the allocation of payment entitlements to farmers who actively farmed in 2013 but never held entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme.

A total of 2,122 successful applications were received

In response to a parliamentary question from deputy Niamh Smyth, the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed stated: “A total of 2,122 successful applications were received under the Scottish Derogation measure under the Basic Payment Scheme. One thousand three hundred and one applications were deemed to be unsuccessful.”

The number of farmers who were unsuccessful accounts for 61% of applications.

The derogation was announced by former Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney in 2015, and it was thought the €20m scheme would attract applications from up to 6,000 farmers.

The successful farmers would get around €30/ha including greening in 2015 – which would increase in four additional equal steps to around €155/ha, 60% of the national average, by 2019.

Speaking at the time, the now Tánaiste Simon Coveney said: "A number of active farmers did not establish entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme and consequently do not hold an allocation right for the purposes of establishing entitlements under the new scheme."

Under the terms and condition of the scheme, farmers had to prove that they had been productively farming in 2013.

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