Vol. 542 No. 5
144 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will ensure that a system is put in place whereby people who include commonage land with proven rights in their area aid applications do not have their payments delayed each year; and if he will examine the case of a person (details supplied) in County Waterford and indicate when payment will issue. [25126/01]
In general delays in processing area aid applications which involve commonages are caused by overclaims. These arise either where new applicants are claiming commonage rights or where existing claimants are incorrectly increasing their claims. This results in the overall claims exceeding the area of the commonage with consequent delays in processing area aid applications for the herdowners involved in the commonage.
In cases where commonage overclaims arise the area aid unit of my Department has to get in touch with each new applicant or the applicant increasing his or her share, to determine whether or not a valid claim can be established. In cases where area aid applicants are found to have proof of an entitlement to a commonage their applications are cleared for payment purposes.
Where herdowners fail to produce documentary evidence to support their claims to a share of a given commonage, they are given a reasonable period to respond after which their claims are rejected.
The person named applied for 5.21 hectares of commonage in his area aid application and this area has now been cleared. The payments due will issue to him shortly. The delay was due to a new applicant applying on the commonage in question and another applicant increasing his share.
There are particular problems in processing commonage cases where overclaims arise. My officials are examining the processing arrangements with a view to ensuring that any delays are minimised in all such cases.
