Vol. 536 No. 3
125 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the way in which his Department is handling applications from farmers for area aid numbers; the time period taken to assess same prior to issuing a decision on such applications; if he intends to ensure that the process of assessment and decision making is accelerated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14080/01]
All area aid applications are processed by reference to herd numbers. When lodged in the Department, area aid applications are first scanned on to a document retrieval system. They are then data captured and registered. When farmers lodge an area aid application for the first time it is necessary, for control purposes, that the applicant's holding be inspected prior to the issue of a new herd number. These arrangements involve the area aid inspectorate and the local district livestock office which is responsible for issuing herd numbers. While it takes some time for all inspections to be completed, the timing is designed to facilitate the issue of payments to cereal farmers on 16 November. This year, as an emergency measure, it has been necessary for my Department to redeploy staff to foot and mouth duties and, as a consequence, it is difficult to state precisely when inspections will be completed. Nevertheless, I will keep the matter under continuous review so that herd numbers can be issued as quickly as possible. It is also my intention to ensure that all payments, except, for problem cases, are made on time in accordance with the protocol on direct payments to farmers.
