Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 19 Apr 1994

Vol. 441 No. 5

Written Answers. - Ewe Quota.

Michael Creed

Question:

144 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if his Department has allocated all of the national reserve ewe quota; the different categories of farmers who benefited; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

The position is that the vast majority of applications for ewe premium reserve quota have now been fully processed, and reserve quota has already been allocated to most eligible applicants.

The terms and conditions provided that reserve quota would be allocated to the following categories of producer in descending order of priority.

Category 1— (a) flockowners whose application for the ewe premium in 1991, due to exceptional circumstances, did not correspond to the true situation on their holdings in previous years; (b) flockowners who have regularly submitted an application for the ewe premium (including in 1992) but who have not done so in 1991; (c) flockowners who were paid the ewe premium in 1991 but did not apply in 1992 due to exceptional circumstances; (d) flockowners who submitted an application for the ewe premium for the first time in 1992 or subsequent year and who meet the following conditions:

— are under 35 years of age,

— their total household income is less than £14,822 p.a.,

— at least 50 per cent of their total income is derived from farming,

— have the following qualifications,

(i) if born after 1 January 1968, must have (a) obtained the Teagasc certificate in farming or a higher qualification or (b) have 3 years practical experience in farming and have satisfactorily completed a course of training in farming of a minimum duration of 150 hours, or (ii) if born before 1 January 1968, meet the requirements outlined in (i) or have 5 years practical experience in farming.

Category 2

Flockowners who can demonstrate that the operation of the quota limits will jeopardise the viability of their holdings and who have embarked on (i) a farm improvement plan involving sheep production drawn up by 1 January 1993 or (ii) a finance restructuring plan related to sheep production drawn up in conjunction with Teagasc by 1 January 1993.

Category 3

Flockowners who have acquired land formerly used for sheep production by other producers.

In addition, the application form provided for another category (category 4) to enable flockowners who applied for the ewe premium for the first time in 1992 to apply for rights which would have been allocated to flockowners who applied for the premium in 1991 but who, having ceased sheep farming, did not apply for the ewe premium in 1992 and whose holding was not taken over by another producer.

The following categories of producer have been successful in obtaining reserve quota.

Category	No. of producers
1 (A)	509
1 (B)	216
1 (C)	336
1 (D)	271
2	465
3	266
4	1,669

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

145 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason for the delay in payment of a suckler grant to a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and whether he will now arrange payment.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

My Department is unable to trace any 1993 suckler cow premium scheme application from the person named.

John Browne

Question:

146 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when a person (details supplied) in County Leitrim will receive payment of his beef premium and headage payments.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

An advance of £760.80 under the 1993 cattle headage scheme was paid on 2 December 1993. The application is being processed further and any balance due will be paid shortly. Advances of £248.04, £341.05 and £124.02 under the special beef premium scheme have also been paid on foot of applications lodged in January and June 1993. An application received from them in February 1993 for special beef premium on 13 animals is being processed at present and any payment due will issue shortly.

Payment of balances due under 1993 special beef premium schemes cannot be made until all applications received from them 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. Payment of the balances under these schemes will start shortly.

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

147 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when a suckler grant will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

The application of the person named for grants under the 1993 suckler cow premium scheme is being processed at present and any payment due will be made shortly.

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

148 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when a payment under the special premium scheme will be made to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

The person named applied for the December 1992 special beef premium in respect of 46 animals but payment of the premium was delayed due to inaccuracies in the ear tag numbers of three of the animals applied on. These have now been resolved and payment of the full premium will issue in the near future.

He was paid a 60 per cent advance of his January/February 1993 special beef premium on 17 December 1993 and his December 1993 special beef premium application is being processed at present. The balance of the January/February 1993 premium and the full December 1993 premium cannot be paid until all applications received from him in the course of 1993, including his area aid application have been processed. This is necessary to ensure compliance with EU regulations covering in particular the ceiling on eligible animals and stocking density. He was not an applicant for the June 1993 special beef premium scheme.

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

149 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when a suckler grant will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. J. Walsh)

The person named was paid an advance under the 1993 suckler cow premium scheme on 16 April 1994. Delay in making this payment arose because of a problem with his area aid application which was only resolved recently.

Payment of the balance due cannot be made until all applications received from him 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. Payment of balances under this scheme commenced recently.