Vol. 533 No. 5
7 Mr. Killeen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the position in regard to payment of outstanding moneys from 2000; when final amounts will be paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9126/01]
The position in respect of payments under the various 2000 headage and premium schemes is that some £658 million has already been paid to date. This compares quite favourably with the position at the same time last year when £622 million had been paid. I expect EURO compensation payments of some £14 million under the livestock schemes to commence within the next week. EURO compensation of almost £5 million has already been paid to REPS participants.
Balancing payments under the 2000 suckler cow premium scheme commenced on 31 January 2001. The present position is that 96% of applicants have been paid more than £154 million under this scheme. Some 2,500 applications which remain unpaid are query cases and payments will be made as problems are resolved.
With regard to the special beef premium scheme, balancing payments commenced on 7 February 2001. Overall, 98% of applications have attracted payments valued at £186 million under this scheme. The number of remaining applications – about 4,000 – involve queries and payments will issue as the problems associated with the applications are resolved.
The final instalment under the 2000 ewe pre mium scheme was paid on 16 February 2001 – the earliest possible date following publication of the regulation. Some 98% of applicants under this scheme have been paid £77.4 million. Some 1,000 applications which remain unpaid are query cases and any outstanding payments will be made as problems are resolved.
As regards the 2000 slaughter premium scheme and the national envelope, balancing payments are expected to commence in April when the quota usage for the year of application is determined. Some £34 million has been paid to beef producers under these two schemes to date. Payment of an additional £1.3 million can be released if the 13,800 producers' acknowledgements requiring only the herd owner's signature are returned by farmers.
Payments, amounting to £112 million have been made under the disadvantaged areas headage schemes to 96% of applicants. About 4,500 problem cases remain unpaid and any outstanding payments are being made as quickly as problems are resolved. Some 99.6% of all applicants under the arable aid scheme have been paid £93.4 million.
Payments under the 2000 extensification scheme are expected to commence in June 2001. However, 11,000 census forms still have to be returned by farmers despite the issue of reminders. No payment can be made to farmers unless they return these forms.
It is my intention that payments under the various premium schemes will be completed in all eligible cases by 30 June 2001.
I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. I realise the reason for many of the delayed payments is due to problems or queries relating to them. In many instances these are relatively minor queries and I urge the Minister of State to err on the side of making the payment whenever possible. It is not difficult to recover payment in the unlikely event that that should arise. Given that farmers are experiencing more financial pressure than at any time in the recent past will the Minister of State ensure that any payments that can be made are made?
That is what is happening. Except in query cases all the payments that could be made have been made. In query cases the regulations have to be complied with. Payment would be facilitated if farmers were willing to provide the information when requested to enable the clearing up of query cases. However, there will be a number of cases where, because people have not complied with the regulations, payment will not be made.
Will the Minister of State seek EU approval to bring forward payments due in June under the extensification scheme? The reason I ask is that cash flow is non-existent except in dairy or beef producing farms. This should be done to improve the cash flow of farmers who do not have income other than from store cattle.
Every effort will be made to bring forward these payments. Payments cannot be made to farmers who do not return the census forms. Those 11,000 farmers should get the job done and facilitate early processing of these claims so that when it is possible to make the payments everything will be in order. Every effort will be made to try to bring forward the payment date from June.
I put it to the Minister of State that in many of the district livestock offices files are held up for small technicalities. That is what all his colleagues say, what we say and probably what he knows himself. We appreciate that the on-farm inspections have commenced. Is it possible for either the Minister of State or the Minister to ensure that this evening a phone call will be made to each of the livestock offices and where a telephone contact with the farmer would solve the issue that call will be made? Most of the time it can easily be done in that way. We appreciate the reason for census forms and it is hard to make a case for anyone who does not return them. In many instances one phone call from one of the Minister's officials would solve the problem. Can I take it that will be done?
I support bringing forward the extensification payments. People in Westmeath are looking forward to them being brought forward. What level of discussions has been initiated by the Minister's Department with the EU Commission to permit fast-tracking of extensification payments which are due eight weeks hence?
In reply to the first question, every effort will be made to try to pay those who are eligible for payment. For most schemes 96% of applicants or more have been paid. We have to recognise that there will be a number of cases in the remaining 2%, 3% or 4%, depending on the scheme, which will not ever be eligible for payment because they have not complied with the terms of the scheme. Nothing can be done about that. If a farmer has broken a fundamental rule of the scheme payment cannot be made. Nobody will ever announce 100% payment to everyone who applied. They can announce 100% payment to those who applied and complied with the terms of the scheme. Therefore, the margins are smaller than the gross figures I gave for outstanding applications. Every effort will be made to expedite payment. Expediting payment is a two-way process and applicants must facilitate it. In regard to the extensification scheme, every effort will be made to try to bring the date forward as far as possible. There is little point in looking for something if applicants have not done their part of the work.
