Remove burned land or lose BPS money – Department

Farmers are being warned to remove illegally burned land from their 2017 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application or face reduced payments and penalties.

Department of Agriculture officials are comparing new and old satellite imagery to identify land which was burnt illegally during the closed period.

Illegally burned agricultural and eligible forestry land is not eligible for payment under the BPS and other area-based schemes such as disadvantaged areas (ANC), Minister of State Andrew Doyle has warned.

Amendment

“Farmers who have included illegally burnt land in their 2017 Basic Payment Scheme application, already submitted to the Department, should now remove this land by means of submitting an amendment form prior to the closing date for receipt of amendments, ie 31 May or 9 June with penalty,” he said.

He added that where satellite imagery identified that lands were burnt during the closed season, it could lead to physical inspection by Department officials.

“My Department will not tolerate incidences of illegal burning of land and will take all necessary actions to ensure compliance with the conditions of the various EU-funded area-based schemes, including reducing payments and penalties where applicable,” said Doyle.

Prosecution

Burning of vegetation is illegal from 1 March to 31 August and is liable to prosecution by An Garda Síochána or by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).

Meanwhile, Coillte has said that estimating the full extent of the damage to the Coillte estate and the overall cost of the recent wildfires across the country will take many weeks.

Some 1,500ha of forestry and 2,000ha of bogland in Coillte’s Cloosh Valley forest was burned and other Coillte forests were also damaged.

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