Vol. 431 No. 3
180 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he intends to extend the deadline for submissions in respect of land use for determination of eligibility for EC funds, having regard to the intricate methods devised for qualification, the unrealistic deadline and the potential losses to farmers and the Irish economy in the event of error; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The deadline for receipt of area aid applications is laid down in an EC Council regulation. In the case of those applying for arable sector aid or livestock farmers with land that had been ploughed at any time since 1 January 1987, the closing date for submission of applications was 15 May 1993. Applications can be accepted up to 3 June 1993 with a reduction in aid of 1 per cent for each working day that they are late. In the case of livestock producers with permanent pasture only, I secured an extension of the deadline in order to allow them to submit their area aid applications with the first livestock applications up to 1 July 1993.
