Vol. 440 No. 6
2 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry his views on whether the delay in the final 1993 ewe premium pay-out is acceptable; the number of farmers to be paid premium for 1993; and whether he has deployed adequate resources, including staff, to cope with the huge increase in CAP-driven bureaucracy to ensure prompt payments to farmers in 1994 in return for production cutbacks.
Ewe premium entitlement is payable in accordance with EU regulations. Normally payments are made by way of three instalments. Payment of any of the instalments cannot be made until the European Commission fixes the amount to be paid and until up to seven days have elapsed from the date of publication of that decision in the Official Journal. In 1993 it was decided that the first and second instalments could be paid together following publication of the second instalment decision in the Official Journal on 2 June 1993. In Ireland's case payment of the first and second instalments commenced on 27 July 1993. The European Commission has recently fixed the third and final instalment and that decision was published on 7 March 1994, facilitating payment amounting to an estimated £50 million by 15 March at the earliest. The intention is to commence payment of the final instalment in Ireland before Easter and most payments should be made by the middle of April.
I welcome the Minister's commitment to have these payments made and I hope he has the staff to ensure they are paid. It is not the Minister's fault that the weather has been so bad but these premiums must be paid urgently. What is the position regarding the unpaid £4 million of the first and second instalments?
A sum of £70.3 million has been paid to 49,000 applicants. With the addition of the £50 million that will bring the total to be paid on the three instalments to £120 million, a considerable amount of money for sheep producers. All eligible applicants have been paid and the small number outstanding are subject to queries. As soon as they are concluded they will be paid also.
I appreciate money has been paid but the urgency of payments cannot be over emphasised because of the serious weather difficulties sheep farmers have had to endure. They have suffered more serious losses this year than previously because of the weather and I urge the Minister to make these payments as quickly as possible.
I appreciate what the Deputy is saying but 15 March was the earliest possible date on which payments could have been made. At this stage one can hardly say there has been a delay. I have given a commitment that payments will commence within a number of days and that all eligible payments should be made by the middle of April.
