Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 23 May 1996

Vol. 465 No. 8

Written Answers. - Headage Forms.

Liam Fitzgerald

Question:

29 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry whether correct application forms will issue to farmers in view of the issuing of incorrect headage forms to 10,000 farmers who qualified for severely handicapped status but were issued with forms applicable to less severely handicapped areas; the cost to the Exchequer of printing, administering and posting these 10,000 incorrect forms; and the estimated cost of sending out replacement forms. [10627/96]

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

Approximately 3,000 townlands in 305 district electoral divisions in 18 counties were reclassified from less severely handicapped to more severely handicapped in October 1995. Farmers with land in 1996 in the townlands in question and who did not heretofore have land in more severely handicapped areas are therefore eligible to participate in the 1996 cattle headage scheme as distinct from the 1996 beef cow scheme.

My Department identified all farmers who had land in 1995 in the townlands reclassified and made arrangements to issue the appropriate 1996 cattle headage application form to those farmers. Some of those farmers already had some land in more severely handicapped areas and the effect of the reclassification in their cases would have been an increase in the amount of their land which is more severely handicapped. Since they already had some land in more severely handicapped areas they would always have been issued with the cattle headage application form as distinct from the beef cow headage application form.

While every effort was made to ensure that the appropriate 1996 application form issued to farmers with land in the reclassified areas, there may well have been instances where an incorrect form issued. My Department has no evidence, however, to suggest that a large number of incorrect application forms issued. The press advertisement which appeared during the last week of April 1996 advised all intending applicants, particularly those whose land was reclassified to ensure that they received and completed the appropriate application form. Any farmer who inadvertently received an incorrect application form may obtain the correct form from his-her local office.