John Ellis
Question:240 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his Department will make REP scheme payment to a person (details supplied) in County Leitrim whose compliance inspection was passed on 15 August, 1997. [19114/97]
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
A payment issued to the person concerned in the past week.
Paul Connaughton
Question:243 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on whether there is a strong case to be made for the abolition of the 7 per cent stabiliser mechanism in view of the fact that quotas are firmly established for sheep farmers; if he has made this request to the European Commission; and the progress, if any, he has made in this regard. [19119/97]
The operation of the stabiliser co-efficient in the calculation mechanism of the ewe premium was part of a package agreed by the Council of Ministers which set the ewe premium quota levels in 1992. The co-efficient of 7 per cent was a compromise figure agreed at that time. My Department has suggested to the EU Commission on a number of occasions since then that this co-efficient should be reduced. However, in view of the fact that this was only one element of the overall compromise, it would not be possible to secure a change in the co-efficient without some corresponding impact on the other elements of the regime. It is important to recall, for example, that the rural world premium was introduced in 1992 to compensate for the negative effects of the stabilizer in the less favoured regions.