Vol. 532 No. 4
215 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the course of action a farmer can take to include commonage on an area aid application which has not been used previously on an area aid application; and the evidence he is expected to provide instead. [7424/01]
Where an applicant is claiming an entitlement to a commonage share under the 2001 area aid scheme, one of the following documents would be acceptable as proof of this entitlement: Land Registry folio, Land Commission vesting order, certified copy of relevant estate papers from Land Commission records, grant by the freehold legal owner, grazing trust deed or a grant or deed by original estate landlord.
In circumstances where none of the above documentary evidence exists for any of the claimants on a particular commonage, my Department will accept a joint affidavit signed by all shareholders-grazing rights holders, setting out: the total number of commonage shares-grazing rights; each shareholder's share entitlement in the commonage; each grazing rights holder's allocation of rights and the extent to which such rights may be exercised; an undertaking that if at any future date a person, other than the deponents or their successors, establishes a valid claim to a share in the commonage/grazing rights, such person would be accommodated by a proportionate reduction in the existing shares/grazing rights as set out in the affidavit. The affidavit shall include a recital stating that the affidavit will not be used for purposes other than those for which it was prepared.
