Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 9 Oct 2002

Vol. 554 No. 5

Written Answers. - Grant Application Procedures.

Denis Naughten

Question:

319 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his plans to use the CMMS system to minimise the complex paper application forms and inspection currently applied by his Department in relation to premia payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16195/02]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh):

Over recent years my Department, in consultation with the farm bodies and with progressive use of information technology, has made major progress in simplifying the application procedure under the various schemes. The changes introduced include: pre-printing of personal details, name, address and herdnumber and in the case of area aid, land parcel identification numbers, on application forms; use of bar-coding on bovine animal passports – no need in most cases to list tagnumbers on applications; Provision of "CMMS herd profiles" to assist farmers in completing extensification census forms; automatic processing of entitlement to slaughter premium without the need for farmers to submit an application; and the removal of certain notification requirements – such information is now taken from the database.

In addition to the above, the move in 2001 from an animal based system for payment of disadvantaged areas' compensatory allowance to an area based system has greatly facilitated simplification of the application procedure.

Information technology and CMMS have therefore been used to significantly simplify the application, administration, inspection and payment procedures. In general all of our application forms consist of one A4 personalised page with pre-printed details provided where possible. Because of increased use of CMMS the number of on-farm inspections to be carried out under the bovine schemes has been reduced by over 50% with effect from this year. The CMMS is being used to make payment under the slaughter premium scheme without the need for individual applications. Profiles from the CMMS are being issued to farmers to assist them in completing census forms for the extensification premium scheme. As the CMMS becomes more accurate we will be able to dispense with individual census forms and use the CMMS data for determining entitlement to extensification premium. This aspect is currently being examined for the 2003 extensification premium scheme.

While the CMMS greatly assists in simplification of the procedures it also serves to highlight deficiencies on the farmers' part where, for example, a cow being submitted for the suckler cow premium has not, according to CMMS, given birth to a first calf. Similarly non-compliance with retention period requirements is now highlighted by way of cross-checks against CMMS. There is a requirement that all animals applied on for premia are properly entered on the CMMS database. It is imperative therefore that farmers comply with identification, registration and movement notification requirements as otherwise any deficiencies are highlighted during the processing of applications for premium.

A 100% accurate CMMS database, including all animal details and up-to-date movements would be invaluable to both farmers and the Department in processing applications for cattle schemes. The achievement of such a database will necessitate 100% commitment from marts, factories and farmers. Incomplete and inconsistent movement records which are highlighted through premia applications lead to payment delays and serve to weaken the potential of the CMMS.