Coveney defends use of 2011 densities in 2012 scheme

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has defended his decision to use 2011 stocking densities in setting qualification for the 2012 disadvantaged areas scheme.

He said, “On the retrospective payment issue, people tell me all the time in respect of the 2014 reference year for the CAP, for example, that if one intends to set a reference year, one must set it in the past and not in the future because otherwise everyone simply would change behaviour in the future.

“This is the reason I picked the most recent year in the past, 2011, to be the reference year.”