Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Nov 1997

Vol. 482 No. 8

Written Answers. - Grant Payments.

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

115 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on whether there should be an upper limit of £3,000 on the level of headage payments an individual farmer can receive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19389/97]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh):

A formal commitment to have compensatory headage payments independently evaluated was entered into by my Department as part of negotiations in 1994 with the European Commission on the Structural Funds leading up to the approval of the Operational Programme for Agriculture, Rural Development and Forestry (OPARDF). The Commission's attitude was that the funds allocated to the measures 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 a number of broad recommendations, and following consideration of their report certain proposals were put to the European Commission to provide for amendments to the headage schemes, including the implementation of a £3,024 limit to individual farmers. As part of Partnership 2000, it was provided that the proposals would come into effect from January 1998 and that the proposal to impose a ceiling on individual headage payments would also come into effect on that date unless the farming bodies could come up with an equitable alternative early in 1997 which could produce similar savings. No such proposals have emerged and the formal negotiation process is now under way with the Commission.