Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 7 May 1991

Vol. 407 No. 9

Written Answers. - Special Beef Premium Application.

Noel Dempsey

Question:

117 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will review the case of a person (details supplied in County Meath who was refused a special beef premium because it was alleged that he did not comply with the rules in that he sold cattle within the period in which they were to be inspected in view of the fact that (1) he gave two weeks notice to the local veterinary office that he would sell some cattle because of financial difficulties and at the end of the two weeks he gave another week's notice that he would be selling and (2) the rule which disallowed him payment i.e. that cattle must be inspected before sale, was later waived.

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. O'Kennedy)

The only notice my Department received concerning sale of cattle by the person named was given after he had sold the four cattle listed on his 1990 special beef premium application. As neither the four cattle concerned nor their identity cards were seen by any of my Department's staff, therefore, it has not been possible to pay the 1990 special beef premium in this case.

While it is true that some flexibility was conceded later in 1990 in the rules governing the 1990 special beef premium scheme, that flexibility did not extend to making payments on animals in respect of which it could not be established that payment had not been previously made and would not be made in the future.