Enda Kenny
Question:395 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a suckler cow grant will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Mayo.
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
This applicant's 1991 suckler cow premium scheme grant is being processed at present and payment will issue shortly.
Ivan Yates
Question:396 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the progress, if any, he has made in obtaining the restoration of the £6 cut in the ewe premium payments this year to sheep farmers; if, in view of the severe drop in their incomes over recent months, he will make a detailed announcement in relation to the level of ewe premium payments for this and future years.
The level of the estimated ewe premium for 1992 on which the first advance of the 1992 premium was based, was calculated by the EC Commission last June. A method based on a single average price for the EC as a whole, used then for the first time, led to a reduction of £1.76 in the first advance of the ewe premium; this was compensated, in the case of producers in disadvantaged areas, by an increase of £1.31 in the rural world premium. The method of calculation is in accordance with the agreement reached by the Council of Ministers in 1989 on the reform of the sheepmeat regime.
The reduction in the 1992 premium foreshadowed by the first advance is occurring at a time when market prices are falling in a way which points to the fact that the price adjustment expected at the time of the 1989 reform has not materialised. Ireland has been warning the Council and Commission for some time that this was likely. When our fears in this regard were borne out I immediately submitted a case to the EC Commission for an increase in the ewe premium because of the special circumstances obtaining in Ireland. I have discussed this case with the Commissioner on a number of occasions and impressed on him the importance of a positive response from the Commission. I expect that the second advance of the estimated 1992 premium will be calculated by the Commission later this month and the final 1992 premium will be fixed in March 1993. Until such time as the Commission has completed its examination of Ireland's case, I am not in a position to anticipate the level of the premium for 1992 and subsequent years.