Vol. 438 No. 7
8 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of animals in respect of which applications for the 22 month special beef premium were made in 1993; and the number of such animals for which payment has issued to date.
20 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when all outstanding payments under the cattle headage scheme, the suckler cow scheme and the February and June 1993 special beef premium schemes will be paid; his views on whether the present system of paying these entitlements in portions of months behind their due date is satisfactory; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
28 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the proposals, if any, he has to reduce the amount of red tape, bureaucracy and form filling which farmers are obliged to complete to secure a large proportion of their income.
41 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of applications received by his Department in 1993 under the EC special beef premium scheme; the numbers deemed eligible; the total sum involved; the numbers of cattle involved; and the sum due but still unpaid to eligible applicants on 1 February 1994.
44 Mrs. Doyle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if there is a deadline set for finalisation of the remaining 40 per cent headage and premia payments.
57 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if late payment of beef, cow and sheep premia will become a permanent feature for the future; if his attention has been drawn to the problems this caused; the proposals, if any, he has for a resolution of this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
62 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if, in view of the delays in payment of all agricultural grants, he will consider paying interest on late payments to improve efficiency and thereby compensate farmers for the delay.
71 Mr. M. Brennan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the amount of money paid out in direct payments to farmers in 1993; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
74 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry his views on the fact that his Department has had to contact 40,000 individual farmers because of tag, card and herd number queries; his views on whether if there was more involvement by his Department's personnel at local offices at the time of application it would have avoided these particular problems and helped to expedite the payment of EU premia for the farmers involved.
127 Mr. Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the total number of farmers who returned incomplete application forms and were asked to supply the necessary information in order that their applications for special beef premium could be considered.
128 Mr. O'Leary asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the way in which the premia payment situation in Ireland compares with that in other member states.
130 Dr. McDaid asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of farmers awaiting payment of special beef premium because of incomplete applications; if these people have been contacted by his Department; the number of responses, if any; and if he will estimate the value of the premia outstanding in these cases.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 20, 28, 41, 44, 57, 62, 71, 74, 127, 128 and 130 together.
The position is that more than 500,000 payments amounting to over £377 million were made to farmers under the various premium and headage schemes in the year ended 31 December 1993. This compares to total payments of £350 million in the year ended 31 December 1992 — a record year for payments. In addition to the £377 million, other direct payments to farmers in 1993 totalled close to £50 million. The high level of payments to farmers during 1993 was achieved against a background of EU regulations which preclude payments under the special beef and suckler cow premium schemes before 1 November and even then limit the payments to 60 per cent advances. Disadvantaged areas' headage payments other than for sheep are normally made on the basis of advances.
The premium payments situation in Ireland compares more than favourably with that in other member states. No advance payments of special beef and suckler cow premia were made in several member states in 1993.
The total number of applications received for the special beef premium scheme for the January-February 1993 and June 1993 application periods in relation to both the ten and 22 month animals is 152,968.
Advance payments of 60 per cent as provided in EU regulations, of £24.5 million have now been made on foot of 85,000 of these applications. The bulk of the outstanding cases involve queries and this is slowing the rate of processing. It is estimated that up to £40 million more will be paid out, including the 40 per cent balances.
It is estimated that there were in the order of 366,000 animals applied on for ten month and 895,000 animals applied on for the 22 month special beef premium for the January-February and June 1993 application periods. Payments have been made to date in respect of 730,000 of these animals.
The number of applications made during the November application period is of the order of 40,000. As these have not yet been fully processed, it is not possible to give figures for the numbers of animals applied on.
Payment of the balances due under the disadvantaged areas' headage schemes has now commenced. Payment of the balance of the special beef and suckler cow premia cannot be made to a particular applicant until all applications received from him-her in the course of 1993 have been processed. This is necessary to ensure compliance with EU regulations covering in particular the ceiling on eligible animals and stocking density. The processing of November 1993 applications means that in most cases payment of the final 40 per cent of premium will not start before late March. This time-frame is in line with the situation in other member states and my understanding is that the 40 per cent balances are expected to be paid in most of them in the period April to June of this year. The EU regulations provide for payment, other than in exceptional cases, of special beef and suckler cow premia not later than 30 June of the year following the year of application.
Total applications under the various livestock schemes in 1993 reached 640,000. The comparable figure in 1992 was about 370,000. As everyone is aware many schemes are highly complex both from the point of view of farmers and of the administration. I have recently announced a £4.8 million investment for 1994 to develop and upgrade computer facilities and other resources particularly in local offices, with the objective of achieving the optimum delivery of my Department's services to farmers and with special emphasis on the timely payment of headage and premia grants.
Given the very substantial increase in the volume of applications in 1993 and the new integrated control system introduced under the EU regulations, I believe that the record level of payment achieved speaks for itself. The additional resources which I have obtained from the Government will result in an even higher level of payment being achieved in 1994 and should enable the payment of all eligible premium claims within three months of application in 1995, where this is allowed under EU rules.
The headage and premium schemes involve considerable amounts of money — as much as £600 million when the CAP reforms are fully in place in 1995. It is understandable that the European Commission lays down very specific conditions for these schemes and this inevitably requires the filling of forms and the meeting of other requirements. My objective is to keep forms and administrative procedures as simple as possible and my Department is continuously monitoring all elements of the schemes with this in mind. Help sheets are available with all scheme application forms and farmers were further assisted in 1993 by way of information seminars held throughout the country by my Department in conjunction with Teagasc. My Department's staff and Teagasc will continue to give advice and help to farmers in completing applications. Seminars are again commencing this week to tie in with the area aid application period.
Farmers themselves can help in the speedier processing of their application forms by completing them carefully and fully. The submission of incomplete application forms, the entry of incorrect herd or tag numbers, failure to submit cattle identity cards all lead to delay in processing applications and to delayed payment.
The vast bulk of January-February 1993 and June special beef premium cases awaiting advance payments are the subject of queries. For example, up to 40,000 June 1993 applicants were written to by my Department, some as early as last August, and responses are coming through only slowly. Reminder letters have issued in many cases, in some more than once; as many as 20,000 reminder letters are issuing this month alone. I am anxious to facilitate timely payments but farmers who do not respond to genuine inquiries from my Department cannot expect their applications to be cleared. At the same time, I believe that more and more farmers are now treating the application procedures with greater care. Clearly the information seminars and help sheets are having the desired effect. A considerable improvement in the completion of forms is already discernible in the November 1993 applications. I expect this to result in speedier payments.
I have been endeavouring to follow the Minister's reply but I have to say that it is wrong for him to take so many other questions which relate to different schemes, with the priority question. This does not make it particularly easy for the general public to be well informed. Is the Minister concerned that of 152,968 applications for the January-February and June 1993 special beef premium some 67,000 or 40 per cent were the subject of queries? Does he agree that this was not due simply to the failure of farmers to fill in the forms properly but rather to some fundamental flaw in the system?
The situation is far from satisfactory and I have acknowledged this from the start. These are new and complex schemes and, in consultation with the farming organisations, we have endeavoured to simplify the forms as much as possible. We have also issued help sheets and held seminars and lectures all over the country to provide information and assist farmers in every way possible, but the fact remains that a large number of applications are submitted without identity cards and with incomplete forms. We have written to farmers — in many cases a second time — asking them to supply the necessary information. I am not blaming farmers in any way for this because the amounts of money involved are very considerable. This also creates difficulties for staff in the departmental offices. The processing of these applications has caused difficulty not only in Ireland but throughout the other member states. A record amount of money, £377 million, was paid out last year and it will be improved this year but it will be next year before I will be able to give a guarantee that each eligible applicant will be paid within three months. Given that these are new schemes under which there have been 650,000 applications and given the number of animals involved, this is reasonable, provided we receive the co-operation of all the applicants and the farm leaders encourage people to be more careful. Teagasc did a tremendous amount of spade work. Its officials worked late at night, endeavouring to assist applicants to get the money as quickly as possible. That is what we are trying to do and I think we can meet our commitments in that regard.
Deputy Dukes rose.
I intervene to say that the time for priority questions is fast running out and there are three remaining questions. Perhaps a very brief question, Deputy Dukes.
Does the Minister agree that this problem arises from a combination of three factors: the requirement to produce identity cards for the animals, the retention period which is artificial and the application dates? Can he explain why so many applicants for the special beef premium in January and February 1993 were not asked by his Department to produce identity cards until November and December of the same year?
There is a number of reasons why we have had teething problems with these schemes. The Department, in consultation with the farming organisations and the farmers themselves at seminars held throughout the country, is doing its best to make payments as quickly as possible. The record shows that Ireland is perhaps the best member state in coming to terms with the complexity of these schemes. We will continue to provide this user friendly service to farmers. We will simplify the application form as much as possible and ensure the smooth running of the schemes.
On a point of information——
I am sorry, Deputy, ar aghaidh anois go Ceist 9.
A Cheann Comhairle——
The Chair is on his feet and the Deputy may not interrupt me. I will take a very serious view if he persists.
I have a serious point to make.
I will repeat myself: ar aghaidh anois go Ceist 9 in ainm an Teachta Molloy. Mar ní fheicim an Teachta í gceannas caithfaidh mé ar aghaidh go Ceist 10.
