Vol. 431 No. 3
148 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will give details and statistics as to the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo, who applied for installation aid, has been deemed ineligible for such aid as his holding exceeds the maximum labour unit requirement permitted under the scheme.
Under the scheme of installation aid for young farmers the labour unit for the holding is calculated on the basis of a standard man year of 2,100 hours. Each enterprise on the holding is allocated a number of standard man days (SMDs). The total man days for the holding is then divided by 225 (standard man days in a standard man year) to give the Man Work Unit (MWU) requirement for the holding.
In this instance the agricultural enterpise was allocated 337 SMDs and the horticultural enterprise was allocated 204 SMDs, giving a total of 2.4 MWUs. This is in excess of the maximum limit of 1.5 MWUs which is applicable to a predominately agricultural enterprise.
149 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the position of the beef premium application of a person (details supplied) in County Wexford; and when payment will be issued.
The application of the person named for grants under the June 1992 special beef premium scheme was rejected when subjected to a computer validation check because of a clerical error. This problem is being dealt with at present and payment should be made within a fortnight.
150 Mr. Crowley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will reconsider a decision to refuse a beef premium grant for a person (details supplied) in County Cork.
The application of the person named for grants under the 1992 special beef premium scheme is being reviewed. He has been asked to explain why he did not ear-punch the animals' ears and when a suitable explanation is received his eligibility for grants will be considered further.
151 Mr. Crowley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if an application for installation aid has been approved and paid to a person (details supplied) in County Cork.
This application is currently being processed by Teagasc. If they are satisfied as to the eligibility requirements the file will be forwarded to my Department for further consideration.
