asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware of the many complaints from farmers about major discrepancies in the allocation and operation of feed voucher schemes; if his attention has been drawn to a statement by the Irish Farmers' Association western development committee on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Feed Voucher Scheme.
101.
It was never the intention that the feed voucher scheme should fully compensate farmers for fodder losses arising from the adverse weather conditions last year. The aid available was limited and in order to utilise this aid as effectively as possible it was necessary to allocate it on a selective basis.
Some 90,000 applications were received under the scheme and, of these, about 80,000 qualified for aid. It is inevitable that some proportion of applicants would be dissatisfied with the amount of aid they received or because they did not qualify for aid under the scheme. Eligibility for aid was based on particulars of livestock numbers and fodder stocks supplied by farmers on their application forms and a standard method was used for assessing entitlement.
Relative to the number of applications, the number of complaints received under the scheme was small and I am satisfied that the vast majority of farmers are happy with the manner in which the scheme was operated.