Vol. 561 No. 3
51 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the situation with respect to farmers whose subsidy claims were due into his Department on or before 31 December 2002, which may have been held up due to the reported postal delay. [3977/03]
The application period for the 2002 special beef premium scheme was from 1 January to 31 December 2002. The terms and conditions of the scheme state that any 2002 applications received after 31 December 2002 will not be processed and will be returned to the applicant. In view of the Christmas holiday period, special arrangements were made by my Department to arrange for the acceptance of special beef premium application forms at local offices as well as at the special beef premium unit in Portlaoise on all working days over the holiday period.
Notwithstanding these special arrangements, the special beef premium unit is examining all applications received in the special beef premium unit in January 2003 to determine the date of posting. In instances where individual farmers wish to have their applications considered under the 2002 scheme and have relevant supporting documentation, such as a certificate of posting, confirming that an application was posted in good time, the Department will review the date of receipt of the application.
