Vol. 478 No. 3
137 Mr. Hyland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will introduce in the near future a new disadvantaged areas review with fresh survey date in view of the fact that there are still a number of areas excluded from the disadvantaged areas scheme. [11046/97]
The first designation of disadvantaged areas in Ireland was in 1975, when areas, mostly in the west and some other mountainous areas were classified as either less severely handicapped, more severely handicapped, or as mountain sheep grazing areas.
Since 1975 there have been five reviews which have brought additional areas into the scheme. The most successful of these was the fourth review in 1991 which resulted in some 780,000 hectares being designated as disadvantaged for the first time. However, there were areas which, it was felt, had been omitted from this review either because they had not been considered, or because they marginally exceeded the criteria laid down in EU Regulations.
In order to redress these grievances, it was decided to set up an appeals panel to examine the case for including additional areas. This panel invited interested farmers and groups to send in appeals, and my Department carried out a 100 per cent survey of farmers in all the areas from which appeals were received.
The appeals panel examined the survey data and recommended the inclusion of some new areas as disadvantaged. After discussions with the EU Commission, a further 128,000 hectares were approved for designation as disadvantaged, details of which I announced in May 1996.
This fifth review of disadvantaged areas was conducted by an independent appeals panel. All non-disadvantaged areas in the country were eligible for examination, and the data used in the area evaluation was provided by the farmers in those areas. In view of this I am satisfied that all eligible areas have now been included in the disadvantaged areas, and with almost 75 per cent of the land area of the country designated as disadvantaged, I have no plans to initiate a new review of areas in the foreseeable future.
