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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 18 Apr 2002

Vol. 552 No. 2

Written Answers. - Capital Investment Scheme.

Seán Ryan

Question:

61 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number and names of the successful applicants announced to date, who have previously received approval for capital investments under the FEOGA schemes in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes; and the value of these approvals and descriptions of the projects. [12202/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

62 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of completed applications received by the closing date of 14 September 2001 in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes; if all the planning requirements were met by that date; and if not, the date on which this information was received by his Department in each case. [12203/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

63 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of farm inspections which took place by officials of his Department on the farms of the applicants prior to or during the assessment period of the applications in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes. [12204/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

64 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the projects being grant aided in 2002; and if, in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes in the assessment of the applications, special consideration was given to the applicants from the BMW region. [12205/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

65 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he amended the list of recommendations of the selection committee in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes; and if so, the necessary details in this regard. [12206/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

66 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number and value of the projects approved, broken down into regional areas, that is, BMW and eastern regions in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes. [12207/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

67 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the reason an application (details supplied) was unsuccessful in view of the fact that the application included provision for cold storage and handling facilities. [12208/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

68 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of applications which were required to provide further information to support their application, other than a request for a current tax clearance certificate, in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes; the name of such applicants; and if any of these subsequently received approval. [12209/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

69 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if approvals have been granted based on value added potato projects in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes; if so, his views on the fact that such projects were not included within his Department's sectoral priorities issued with the application forms for the potato sector; when the priorities were extended to include such projects; and the date and means by which his Department publicised the changed priorities to all of the applicants in view of the fact that at least one of the applicants was informed by an official in his Department not to include value added potato projects in their application. [12210/02]

Seán Ryan

Question:

71 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of completed applications in respect of the capital investment scheme for the marketing of and processing of certain agricultural products, potatoes, received by the closing date of 14 September 2001; if all the planning requirements were met by that date; if not, the date on which this information was received by his Department in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12238/02]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 61 to 69, inclusive, and No. 71.

The capital grant scheme operated by my Department for the marketing and processing of agricultural products applies to projects at or near farm level in the horticulture, potato, eggs, grain and livestock marketing and processing sectors which do not fall within the remit of the development agencies or are not covered by the Department's on farm schemes. Because the funding under the scheme is limited, eligibility alone does not necessarily confer an entitlement to grant aid and generally applications are required to undergo a competitive assessment and selection process. The first call for applications under this scheme was made last year with a closing date of 14 September. In the potato sector the total number of applications received by that date was 28. Two of these were found to be ineligible while a third was subsequently withdrawn leaving a total of 25 applications to be considered.

In cases where a project requires planning permission, it is not a condition of the scheme that this be obtained prior to submission of the application. Applicants are required to provide proof of lodgement of an application for planning permission and, of course, receipt of such permission is a prerequisite for the award of aid. Five of the projects referred to did not require planning permission and in the case of the remaining 20 the conditions which I have outlined were complied with fully. With one exception, all of the applicants were required to provide additional information for the purposes of clarifying various elements of their applications. In all cases it was considered that the initial and supplementary information provided was sufficient to facilitate assessment and evaluation of the applications without the need for on farm inspections.

Between them, the 25 applications in the potato sector had a grant aid requirement of almost €10 million, while the funding available amounted to €2.1 million. The applications were evaluated by reference to viability, target markets, their sectoral and regional impacts, particularly at primary producer level, and the extent to which they would improve the saleability of the primary product. Following the assessment process six projects, involving grant aid of €1,796,125, were recommended to me and I approved them. I expect to receive a further recommendation shortly regarding the unallocated balance of approximately €308,000.
Details of the six projects for which aid has been awarded, broken down by region, are set out in the following table 1. Four of the successful applicants received grant aid under previous funding rounds and full details of the projects and amounts involved are set out in table 2.
Table 1

Region

Beneficiary

Description of Project

GrantApproved€

EligibleCosts€

BMW

Donegal Potatoes LtdNewtowncunningham, Co. Donegal

Installation of new washing, peeling, chipping, packaging and other equipment.

398,976*

977,439

BMW

Patrick Howard Bellewstown, Drogheda, Co. Louth

Construction of new insulated stores and provision of new equiprnent.

650,745*

1,626,862

SE

Meade Potato Co. Ltd. Lobinstown, Co. Meath

Construction of loading bay and chilled dispatch store. Provision of extra washing and packing facilities

287,825*

719,561

SE

Peter and Eddie Doyle Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny

Construction of washing house and packing area, extension to cold storage facilities and provision of other equipment.

133,134

352,834

SE

Meadowfresh Foods Tallow, Co. Waterford

Upgrading of existing facilities and expansion of processing and handling facilities.

160,975

402,437

SE

Edward English, Castlecor, Kilbrin, Co. Cork

Provision of additional potato storage and packing facilities.

172,470*

431,175

* Received funding under previous rounds
Table 2

Beneficiary

PreviousFEOGA andNational Awards

FEOGA andNational£IR

Donegal Potatoes Ltd., Newtowncunningham, Co. Donegal

1988

47,678

1989

436,905

Meade Potato Co. Ltd., Lobinstown, Co. Meath

1991

146,891

1996

241,166

Patrick Howard, Bellewstowm, Drogheda, Co. Louth

1992

259,763

Edward English, Castlecor, Kilbrin, Co. Cork

1997

288,463

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