Vol. 487 No. 3
150 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the percentage of funding from European grants for agriculture made available to farmers under the various support schemes; the cost, from these funds, of administration; the percentage of these funds used by the Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4073/98]
Payments to farmers account for over 50 per cent of European grants for agriculture. Farmers also benefit indirectly from the other principal market supports e.g. export refunds and intervention for which the Exchequer carries the cost of prefinancing.
All grants under the various EU supported farm schemes are paid directly to farmers by my Department and the expenditure involved is subsequently recouped from the EU at varying recoupment rates. The rate of recoupment from the EU ranges from 65 per cent for compensatory headage allowances to 75 per cent for on-farm investment and CAP reform accompanying measures and to 100 per cent for EU direct payments such as livestock premia.
All administration costs are borne entirely by the Exchequer.
