Vol. 517 No. 3
13 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development when payments will be made to those pigmeat producers in the Border counties who suffered extreme economic hardships in the past 12 to 18 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9707/00]
Payments to the nominated financial institutions of successful applicants under the scheme will commence this week.
A number of applicants have not yet forwarded all the necessary documentation to enable a decision to be made in their individual cases. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development has been in touch with them to submit the required documentation immediately. As soon as this is done their applications will be assessed without delay, and successful applicants will be paid promptly.
I welcome the Minister's statement that payments will issue forthwith. Small scale pig producers in my constituency are very appreciative of the efforts made by the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Keeffe, to bring about an improvement in this area.
Does the Minister agree that to introduce long-term stability to the pigmeat sector it is necessary to have a major state of the art processing facility in the northern half of the country to service the six Northern Ireland counties and the six southern Border counties? Can the Minister assure me that the Department and the food development agencies, in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Industrial Development Board in Northern Ireland, will make every effort to ensure we have adequate processing facilities in the northern half of the country so that the lack of competition and the desperate situation which pertained for 12 to 18 months will never recur?
The pigmeat industry went through a very difficult time in the past 18 months and I am glad that prices are recovering. The Northern Ireland and Border counties were more harshly affected by the downturn, and the fire in the Northern Ireland plant created additional difficulties.
Under this scheme, 169 people applied for aid and of those 34 were deemed unsuccessful, 104 were successful and 31 are under review. The money will be paid this week. The sooner documentation is submitted the better. With the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland I have initiated a study of the adequacy of processing facilities in the north west and expect to receive its findings in about two months. Enterprise Ireland is involved with the relevant Northern Ireland authorities.
While I welcome the payment, which is important, it is significant that the cheque arrived only when the price of pigs had increased. It was not issued when it was most needed. Will it be possible to pay the money in the next two days? As the Minister is aware there is a taxation element. Pig producers cannot understand the reason it has not been paid. I agree with Deputy Brendan Smith that it is vitally important that something is done to increase slaughtering capacity in the north west. There are too many price variations.
I am pleased to confirm that where documentation is in order the accounts division will be notified and the money will be paid before the end of the week.
The announcement was made in the press on 14 December 1999. It is outrageous that pig producers who were in crisis last year have had to wait so long. The banks would not wait as long. Will the Minister ensure the money is paid this week? While I welcome the upturn in the industry, the matter should have been dealt with in February. I cannot understand the reason for the delay.
Is the Minister aware that some producers encountered great difficulties in obtaining documentation where pigs were slaughtered in factories in Northern Ireland? The agents involved were very slow to provide the relevant documentation. The producers concerned have suffered as a consequence.
I welcome the Minister's statement that a report is expected within two months on the adequacy of processing facilities in the northern half of the country. Will he continue to provide leadership in pursuing this matter? It should not be left to the development agencies to bring forward proposals.
It was not easy to put the scheme in place.
It took a long time.
Other member states are very envious. We are pulling out all the stops to ensure the money is paid as quickly as possible. As Deputy Crawford said, in some cases it was very difficult to obtain the necessary documentation.
Tomorrow is the last day of the financial year.
