Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 16 Feb 1995

Vol. 449 No. 3

Written Answers. - Grant Payments.

Brendan Kenneally

Question:

11 Mr. Kenneally asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason sheep and suckler cow headage payments are being withheld from some farmers who did not submit RSI numbers in view of the fact that payments are being made to other farmers who did not submit RSI numbers. [1697/95]

Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. Yates)

The position is, on January 1, 1994, the previous Government introduced a requirement whereby farmers applying for disadvantaged areas headage payments in any calendar year which in total amount to £500 or more have been obliged to meet certain RSI and tax clearance requirements.

Where the headage payments across all disadvantaged areas schemes in total amount to between £500 and £5,000 a farmer must state the following on the application form or forms: the RSI number issued to them for tax purposes, the tax office dealing with their tax affairs, and that to the best of their knowledge, their tax affairs are in order.

Farmers who are in receipt of a means tested social welfare payment and who accordingly have no tax liability simply have to quote the RSI number associated with their means tested social welfare payment.

In the rare event of applications for headage payments totalling £5,000 or more in any one calendar year, farmers are required to supply a tax clearance certificate from their collector-general with their headage applications.

Farmers in receipt of headage payments under a particular year's schemes which in total are less than £500 are paid without the requirement to submit RSI details or a tax clearance certificate. My Department wrote to all farmers in the disadvantaged areas in December 1993 giving details of the new arrangements. I am also satisfied that the staff in the local offices of my Department are fully aware of the conditions under which RSI numbers must be submitted but as this was the first year of operation of this requirement it is possible that payment has issued in some cases where the entitlement has been over £500 even though an RSI number has not been submitted. No farmers are being discriminated against in applying the RSI and tax clearance rules. Indications are that only 440 cases countrywide have been "stopped" because of failure to supply an RSI number. This is minuscule given the overall number of applications — 122,000 between cattle headage and sheep headage.