Vol. 418 No. 7
24 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline his Department's proposals to the EC regarding livestock headage payments which have been disallowed for two years due to errors; if these proposals will include simplified application forms; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
43 Mrs. Taylor-Quinn asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the European Commission has contacted his Department in relation to its application of the EC special beef premium EC Regulations No. 714/89; and if he is prepared to adopt a more lenient approach on this matter.
44 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the degree to which he intends to have beef, sheep and cow premiums and other such premiums paid by the end of April 1992; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
47 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the reason enormous amounts of EC money are being lost to Irish farmers through non-compliance with regulations for grant schemes.
62 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his attention has been drawn to the fact that in a reply to a question in the European Parliament concerning the application of the EC special beef premium under EC Regulation No. 714/89 the Commission stated that the Commission Services would be in contact with the Irish authorities with the intention of exploring a solution in the case of simple accidental errors in completing forms; and if he will outline whether this contact has been made; and if so, if he will further outline the outcome of the contact.
75 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the percentage of, (a) beef subsidy scheme and (b) cow suckler scheme claims which still have to be paid.
I propose taking Questions Nos. 24, 43, 44, 47, 62 and 75 together.
There have been contacts between my Department and the EC Commission in relation to the operation of the 1991 special beef premium scheme under EC Regulation No. 714/89. These contacts and the acceptance of the recommendations in the interim report of the departmental task force set up to deal with problems of headage and premia payments delays have resulted in a satisfactory solution to problems of simple accidental error in particular.
The position in relation to 1991 headage and premia payments is that by the end of April 1992 some 386,000 payments worth £287 million will have been made to our farmers. About 5 per cent of June 1991 special beef applicants and some 6 per cent of the suckler cow premium claimants are still outstanding. About all the 1991 sheep premium payments have been made. While some of the outstanding claims will be cleared shortly it will not be possible to make payments in all cases. These figures would certainly not support a view that enormous amounts of EC money are being lost to Irish farmers through non-compliance with grant scheme regulations.
