Vol. 475 No. 4
264 Miss Coughlan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of area aid applications lost by his Department in 1996; the person or persons responsible for the loss; the person to whom his Department subcontracted the area aid applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4957/97]
Some 134,600 area aid applications were received by my Department in 1996. These included almost 700 cases in respect of which there is no record of receipt in my Department. Replacement copies of these 700 cases were subsequently accepted by my Department on foot of certificates of posting received from the farmers concerned.
The setting up of the land parcel indentification system required by EU regulations was subcontracted to Mallon Brothers Ltd. but the 1996 area aid applications themselves were processed for payment by my Department as has been the practice since area aid applications commenced.
My Department set up a system for the issue of receipts for area aid applications received in 1996 but industrial action at the time hindered the effective operation of that system. However the system should operate more smoothly for 1997.
