Vol. 468 No. 4
852 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the current position regarding the reclassification of 1.4 million hectares as extremely severely handicapped areas, namely the third tier; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15288/96]
853 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the areas of counties Sligo and Leitrim included in his proposals for the new third tier designation of extremely severely handicapped areas being put forward to the European Commission. [15289/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 852 and 853 together. The areas of the country which will be proposed for reclassification as extremely severely handicapped are being selected at present. The criteria being used include the presence of a high proportion of extremely poor land which could be described as rough grazing land, and also the presence of excessive climatic conditions such as higher levels of rainfall and windspeed than elsewhere.
The selection of the specific areas is being facilitated by the use of satellite imagery, which helps to clearly define the boundaries of rough grazing land. This exercise is almost completed and a proposal will be forwarded to the EU Commission in the very near future. The Commission will need time to examine the proposal before commencing the approval procedures, but I would expect that the areas will be announced in time for the 1997 headage schemes. I cannot comment on specific areas which may or may not be in the proposal in advance of approval by the Commission.
