Patrick J. Morley
Question:90 Mr. Morley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will put in place a procedure which will enable payment of all agricultural grants to be made within the relevant year. [2871/95]
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
In so far as disadvantaged areas headage grants are concerned the position is that payment has normally been made by way of an advance payment in the year of application with a balancing payment being made early in the following year. The Programme for Competitiveness and Work commits the Government to moving progressively over the period of the programme to a position where headage payments are made in full in the year of application. In 1994, the level of the advance payment was 85 per cent of entitlement compared to 60 per cent in 1993. That trend will be continued this year with a view to ensuring full payment to applicants under the 1996 headage schemes during that year.
The position in relation to special beef and suckler cow premium schemes is that EU regulations preclude any payment before 1 November each year and even then limit the payment to a 60 per cent advance. Ewe premium payments are normally made by way of three instalments. The rate of premium is fixed by the EU Commission and member states are precluded from making payment until up to seven days have elapsed from the date of publication of the decision fixing the payment date. Normally the first and second instalments are payable in July/August with the third and final instalment payable in the spring of the following year.
Deseasonalisation premium payments are already made in the overwhelming majority of cases in the year of application. Payment of extensification premium is dependent on various applications submitted by a farmer in a calendar year and this results in payment having to be held over to the following year.
I have made very clear my intention of ensuring the earliest payment of headage and premium grants to farmers. In this context I intend to take up at EU level the issue of changes to elements of the regulations which tend to delay payments. I have already outlined my intention of introducing a charter of rights with the objective of putting in place a top quality effective and efficient service for farmers.
In the EU arable aid scheme, procedures are in place to pay applicants within the year in which applications are made. EU regulations stipulate that area aid payments in the arable sector may commence in mid-October. In 1994, over 97 per cent of payments were made before 31 December. Outstanding cases involve problems and are the subject of ongoing correspondence with applicants. Procedures for the payment of forestry grants are subject to ongoing review so as to ensure that there is no undue delay in discharging grant liabilities. While the vast majority of grant applications are discharged within the relevant year some applications may be received too late in the year to enable processing to be completed within the calendar year.