Vol. 472 No. 8
121 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the current position in relation to the proposal to reduce the ceiling of headage premia; and his views on the implications, if any, of this reduction for the thousands of farmers who are slightly over the proposed amounts. [24192/96]
A formal commitment to have compensatory headage payments independently evaluated was entered into by my Department as part of the negotiations in 1994 on the Structural Funds leading up to the approval of the Operational Programme for Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry. The Commission's attitude was that the funds allocated to this measure represented too high a percentage — 62 per cent — of the overall allocation to the structural improvement and rural development element of the operational programme.
The consultants who carried out the evaluation came up with many recommendations. Following consultation with the farm bodies on the consultants' report, I have made a number of proposals to the European Commission to provide for amendments to the headage schemes in 1997 and following years. These would involve some limits on the overall level of payments, adjustments to a small number of grant rates and a better targeting of payments in order to meet the overall aim of the disadvantaged areas scheme. Discussions on these proposals with the Commission are ongoing and it would not be appropriate to forecast the implications of any elements of the proposals until discussions with the Commission are finalised.
