Vol. 489 No. 1
102 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will ensure that, when details of excess animals are submitted for premium payment, the only cards punched are those that maximise premium payments and that the excess cards are returned unpunched, thus enabling the applicant to subsequently sell the animals as unpunched allowing the buyer to then draw the premium for those animals. [7597/98]
The submission to my Department of cattle identity cards-passports with applications for special beef premium is a legal requirement under Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3886/92. The stamping and punching of premium application status of these documents is required under Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2629/97.
Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 3886/92 also stipulates that any male bovine animal in respect of which a special beef premium application has been submitted but which has not qualified for the special beef premium, either due to an excess on the national quota for this scheme, or, due to the individual applicant having exceeded his or her stocking density for premia, currently two livestock units per hectare, is deemed to have received the premium claimed and may no longer be the subject of an application for the same age bracket, by any person.
It is for the individual farmers to ensure that they only submit bovines for premium within the limits of two livestock units per hectare, unless, for their own reasons, they wish to have animals deemed paid. For example, some farmers could knowingly submit more animals than they would receive actual payment for in order to have such excess animals deemed paid special beef premium and thus eligible in due course for deseasonalisation slaughter premium.
