As part of the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy in 1992, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry was obliged under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/92 to establish an Integrated Administrative and Control System, IACS. A specific requirement of the system was the development of an alpha-numeric land parcel identification system, LPIS, for all land parcels which are the subject of an area aid application. The purpose of this parcel identification system is to provide the Department with a database whereby land parcels being claimed for area aid purposes can be located, identified and have area values and land use attributed. The deadline for implementation of the system was 1 January 1996.
The LPIS operated for the 1996 area aid scheme and is currently being updated for 1997. As part of this update, some applicants for area aid have been requested to supply maps because their 1996 applications contained inadequate details of land parcels to allow identification of their location. This happened in the case of the person named by the Deputy. However, if she did submit a map with a previous application, she should contact my Department in writing or by phone and identify the townland in which that parcel is located. My Department will then arrange for the issue of a map of the townland in question. The address and phone number for contacting my Department are provided in the letter which issued to the applicant on 2 December last.
The work involved in developing the LPIS and updating it in preparation for the 1997 campaign has been awarded to a private contractor based in Dundalk, County Louth. However, I should emphasise that all queries to area aid applicants in relation to the LPIS are dealt with by staff of my Department who are temporarily based on the contractor's premises.
