Paul Bradford
Question:172 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork has had the payment due to him under the 1994 EU area aid arable scheme reduced. [5487/95]
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
An inspection of the holding in question revealed that the area claimed to be in set-aside was over-declared. The applicant had claimed aid on 17.83 hectares of cereals and 2.76 hectares of set-aside whereas the inspection concluded the actual area set-aside was 2.56 hectares, a difference of 0.20 hectares or 7.8 per cent. Under the EU regulations governing the scheme, this resulted in a penalty reduction of 0.40 hectares, thereby reducing the area of eligible set-aside to 2.16 hectares. Given an eligible set-aside area of 2.16 hectares the maximum area of cereals for which aid can be paid in this case is 12.24 hectares and payment was made accordingly.
Michael Creed
Question:174 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will abolish the off-farm income regulation which governs eligibility for grants under the control of farmyard pollution scheme. [5544/95]
The off-farm income limit, known as the reference income, which governs eligibility for participation in the on-farm investment scheme has been in use since 1986 and is designed to target applicants who are most dependent on farming. The reference income is calculated on the basis of the average non-agricultural income. As the control of farm pollution is targeted at smaller farmers, I am satisfied that the rate of £15,000 for 1994, currently under review, is reasonable and have no proposals to abolish it.