Vol. 450 No. 8
214 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the plans, if any, he has regarding the growing of cereals on the one hundred thousand acres of eligible land that is locked into other farming systems. [6158/95]
Under the system of support for producers of arable crops, introduced as part of CAP reform, area payments can only be claimed on eligible land, that is land which was tilled, other than for reseeding into grass, during the period from 1 January 1987 to 31 December 1991.
These area payments are limited to a national base area of 345,000 hectares. The total area for which area payments was claimed in 1994, including areas under cereals, oilseeds, protein crops, linseed and set-aside was approximately 300,000 hectares. This represents a shortfall of about 45,000 hectares in the usable national base area reflecting changes in land use from eligible arable crops to other agricultural and non-agricultural uses. Such changes in land use are based mainly on commercial decisions by farmers having regard to the relative profitability of various land use options.
Nevertheless, I am concerned about the potential restriction placed on arable crop production by the eligible land rule. I am at present actively pursuing this matter with the EU Commission with a view to having the eligible land rule modified.
