Michael Ring
Question:92 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of herd owners in each county who have been instructed to de-stock by 100% under the commonage framework plan. [20895/02]
Written Answers. - Commonage Division.
The level of destocking of grazing animals under the commonage framework plans (CFP) will in no case exceed 50% for the 2003 year.
In mixed cattle and sheep enterprises, when the CFP destocking requirement is applied to the total number of ewe equivalents on the holding it can theoretically result in the freezing of all the ewe quota rights held. However, commonage farmers with mixed cattle and sheep enterprises have the option of undertaking not to graze cattle on the commonage, and having quota recalculated on the basis of ewe numbers and commonage area only.
In any event I have decided that the minimum level that any commonage farmer will be destocked to is ten ewe premium rights. As a consequence farmers who have been notified that they have to destock to single figures or to destock completely can retain ten ewes on which premium can continue to be paid.
Michael Ring
Question:93 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason herd owners affected by commonage framework plans have to immediately submit their plans to his Department by return post; the reason his Department has not outlined when the appeals mechanism will be put in place; and if the farmers will have to wait another five years for that to be decided again. [20896/02]
Under the 1998 agreement with the European Commission which enabled payments of up to €242 per hectare to be made to farmers on commonage land in REPS, my Department together with Dúchas was required to have individual framework plans prepared for each commonage. Now that the framework plans have been mostly completed, farmers have been notified of their individual stocking levels for 2003. These have been calculated with reference to the destocking requirement of the relevant plans together with the data already held in the Department in respect of the farmers concerned.
Farmers with commonage now have three options. They can accept the recommended destocking, have it checked by an agricultural consultant (to see whether the Department has applied the relevant framework plan correctly), or opt out of using their commonages altogether and claim no area-based or REPS payments on the commonage. (They will then not be subject to the destocking recommendations, though they must follow any environmental requirements in the relevant framework plans.)
The option chosen will have a direct bearing on final allocation of quota on an individual basis for 2003, and it is in the interest of farmers to indicate their choice at the earliest possible date to avoid delays in the processing of 2003 payments.
The establishment of an appropriate appeals mechanism is currently under active consideration and I hope to make an announcement in the near future. The intention is that some funding will be made available to appellants to enable them to have professional assessments of framework plans carried out.
Michael Ring
Question:94 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo was instructed to completely destock under the commonage framework plan. [20897/02]
My Department wrote to commonage farmers outlining a preliminary calculation of ewe quota for 2003 based on information available in the Department and the commonage framework plans.
The person named farms both cattle and sheep and has 30 ewe quota. The calculation in his case results in a destocking of 33 out of a total of 77.37 ewe equivalents on the holding. As sheep are first to be destocked under the framework plans, theoretically this would result in the freezing of his entire ewe quota. However the rules for the implementation of the framework plans provide that on mixed farms, where an undertaking is given that cattle will not be grazed on the commonage, the farmer can have his or her quota calculated on the basis of his ewe numbers and commonage area only. If the person named takes this option it will result in a reduction of approximately 15 ewes. In any event, no farmer will be required to destock to below ten ewe quota.