Michael Ring
Question:205 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive the 40 per cent balance payment of his 1997 suckler cow scheme. [11936/98]
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
The person concerned was paid an advance of £673.10 on 2 December 1997 and a balance of £210.35 on 14 May 1998 under the 1997 suckler cow premium scheme in respect of 6.3 suckler cows.
The applicant declared 66.60 hectares on his 1997 area aid application form. The maps which accompanied the application form have been digitised and validated against aerial photography. The digitised area found amounted to 45.08 hectares. In an effort to reconcile this overclaim maps of the digitised area have been sent to the person concerned, who should clarify the position as a matter of urgency.
Michael Ring
Question:206 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive the balance payment of his 1997 special beef premium. [11937/98]
The area aid application received from the person concerned has been fully processed and payment in respect of 1997 special beef premium issued on 26 May 1998 in respect of 30 animals.
Phil Hogan
Question:207 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the up to date situation regarding payments made in respect of all premia to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [11939/98]
The person named applied for grants under the 1997 suckler cow premium, special beef premium and ewe premium schemes.
He holds no suckler cow quota rights therefore no suckler cow premium grants can be paid.
His herd was inspected for special beef premium outside the retention period. No animals were presented and he was requested to provide sales documentation to confirm that he held the animals for the retention period. No documentation has been received to date.
He applied for grants on 84 ewes under the 1997 ewe premium scheme. There were eight of these ewes absent at inspection. Under the relevant commission regulation the amount payable in this case must be reduced by 21.05 per cent. This reduced ewe premium payment will issue to the person named within the next week.
Ivan Yates
Question:208 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if a person (details supplied) in County Wexford will be paid his full special beef premium and area aid entitlements; and if a genuine error in this regard will be resolved in his favour. [11941/98]
The person named applied in 1997 for arable aid under the simplified scheme on 15.09 hectares of cereals. Payment has issued for this application in full. The 1998 application for this person has been made under the simplified scheme for which no setaside land is required.
The person named applied for 23 animals on the 22 month special beef permium in November 1997. The date of birth declared for tagnumber YRA64096 was inconsistent with the age previously declared on the same tagnumber by the person named at the time of submission of his ten month application.
Test reports held in my Department verify the ten month declaration to be correct and therefore the animal concerned has been rejected with consequent reduction penalties on the remaining animals for the 22 month special beef premium. A payable order for 90 per cent advance will issue for the reduced amount of £1,704.31 over the coming week.
Ivan Yates
Question:209 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if persons (details supplied) in County Wexford will have their suckler cow quota restored in view of the evidence that it was in fact leased in 1996. [11942/98]
Under EU regulations, farmers holding suckler cow quotas greater than seven premium rights were required to use at least 70 per cent of those quotas in 1996, otherwise the parts not used would be forfeited and returned to the national reserve.
There is no record in my Department that one of the persons named ever held a suckler cow quota.
The other person named held a suckler cow quota of 13 premium rights but it was not used in 1996. That person was asked by my Department in February 1997 to give the reason for non use of the quota in 1996 but no reply was received from her. My Department has no record of having received an application from her to lease out her quota in 1996.
The quota was therefore returned to the national reserve and I regret to say that it cannot be restored at this stage.
Ivan Yates
Question:210 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if the full application for special beef premium payments will be made to a person (details supplied) in County Wexford in view of the fact that he has the same land on which he was paid the full compliment of stock in 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11943/98]
My Department has no record of having received a completed 1997 area aid application from the person concerned. He is therefore entitled to be paid grants on up to 15 livestock units when account is taken of any milk quota held and any ewes applied on under the 1997 ewe premium scheme.
The person named made an application for 30 ewes under the ewe premium scheme in January 1997, this application was processed and full payment issued in respect of 4.5 livestock units — 30 ewes × 0.15 LU — for £368.73. He also applied for 24 animals under the 22 month special beef premium scheme in December 1997 all of which were under 24 months of age and as such were each classified as 0.6 of a livestock unit. However the remaining livestock units payable were only 10.5 LU's — i.e. 15 - 4.5 = 10.5. Accordingly, he was paid £1,420.17 — 17.5 × 90.17 × 90 per cent — under the 1997 special beef premium scheme. Any remaining entitlement cannot be paid until such time as a definitive position is known in relation to usage of Ireland's 1997 special beef premium quota. Quota usage is determined by reference to the overall number of animals ultimately qualifying for payment under the ten months scheme. It is expected that the position will become clear shortly.
The same situation arose in 1996 as the person named did not submit an area aid application and was therefore restricted to a maximum of 15 livestock units under the schemes applied for. Accordingly, payment issued in full for the 30 ewes applied for under the ewe premium scheme and 17.5 animals under the special beef premium scheme.
Liam Aylward
Question:211 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his Department will review the amounts paid to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny regarding a special beef premium whose area aid maps were rectified only recently and who is of the opinion that the amount paid should be at a higher rate due to the alteration made in the maps. [11944/98]
The person concerned submitted two ten month special beef premium applications during 1997, one on 31 October 1997 in respect of four animals and one on 18 November 1997 in respect of one animal. The October application was the subject of an on farm inspection following which one female animal was deleted without penalty leaving three eligible animals.
Ninty per cent payments have issued in respect of both applications. Any balancing payments due will issue after the definitive position vis-a — vis the national quota usage for special beef premium has been established. It is expected that the position regarding usage of quota will become clear shortly.
Ivan Yates
Question:212 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason for the refusal of headage cow payments to a person (details supplied) in County Wexford in view of the fact that four of the six cows which allegedly did not have calves in 1997 did in fact do so; and if this matter will be fully reconsidered. [11945/98]
The person named applied on 15 beef cows under the 1997 beef cow headage scheme. All the animals on the application had declared calving dates in 1997. Under condition 24 of the terms and conditions of the scheme, beef cows had to calve in 1997 to qualify for beef cow grants.
On 25 July 1997 an inspection was carried out on the herd of the person named, and his application appeared to be in order at that time. On 12 January 1998 a spot check was carried out, and as a result of this inspection, six of the animals were rejected for beef cow grants as they had not calved in 1997.
No grants were payable to the person named under condition 28 of the terms and conditions of the 1997 beef cow headage scheme, which states that no grants are payable where an application covers not more than 20 animals, and over four of these animals are rejected.