Dan Neville
Question:187 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the outcome of an appeal against the decision not to grant 2001 suckler cow premium to a person (details supplied) in County Limerick. [7668/03]
Written Answers - Grant Payments.
The agriculture appeals office dealt with this matter. The appeal was disallowed and the herdowner was notified in writing on 6 March last.
Michael Ring
Question:188 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason a person (details supplied) in County Mayo has been refused a REP scheme payment on commonage land. [7679/03]
My Department has received no application to join REPS from the person named. Farmers required to destock under the commonage framework plans are required by the end of 2003 to apply either for REPS or for a national compensation scheme to be operated by Dúchas, the Heritage Service of the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
My Department cannot determine whether the person named would be eligible for a REPS payment until such time as she submits an application with the necessary accompanying information.
Paul Connaughton
Question:189 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason a penalty on a ewe premium is being imposed on a person (details supplied) in County Galway following an inspection of the flock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7680/03]
The person named applied on 108 ewes under the 2003 ewe premium scheme on 23 December 2002. At an inspection of his flock on 6 March last it was discovered that one of his sheep had died on 25 February and another 19 were found on lands not declared on the application form. The person named was advised on the date of a possible penalty. However, following an examination of the circumstances surrounding the location of these 19 ewes they were deemed to be eligible, together with the other 88 ewes, for payment under the scheme.
Paul Connaughton
Question:190 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason a suckler cow grant has not been awarded in 2001 and 2002 to a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7681/03]
The person named applied for premium for 19 animals under the 2001 suckler cow premium scheme. He has been informed that in processing the application for payment it was found that two animals, tag numbers GAB176589 and GBB848711, had incorrect movement details registered on CMMS. He has been advised that once he has the details amended that the application will be processed further.
An application under the 2002 suckler cow premium scheme has been received requesting premium on 51 animals. It is a condition of the scheme that all animals on the application must be in the ownership and possession of the applicant on the date of applying. According to CMMS records a large number of animals on the application are recorded as having moved onto the holding of the person named after the application date. A query letter regarding this matter and also questioning the calving dates concerning other animals on the application has issued to the herdowner. The application will be dealt with further on receipt of a reply from him.
John Perry
Question:191 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a person (details supplied) will receive the final 20% of a suckler cow payment; if it will be released instantly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7752/03]
The person named applied for premium on 15 animals under the 2002 suckler cow premium scheme. Payment of his 80% advance installment issued on 16 October 2002. Under new arrangements introduced by the EU with effect from January 2002 all bovine premia scheme applications must now be processed at producer level rather than application level. This means that before balancing payment can be made all applications under the special beef premium scheme, the suckler cow premium scheme and the slaughter premium scheme must be fully processed and examined together to establish in the case of suckler cow premium and special beef premium if stocking density levels have been complied with. If there is non-compliance under any of the three schemes, any resulting penalty calculation must take into account the total number of eligible animals under each of the schemes.
While the producer approach will cause a slight delay in balancing payments for the suckler cow scheme the overall effect will be that any penalties imposed will be more proportional than heretofore. This arises because the number of non-compliant animals is divided by all the eligible animals under the three schemes as distinct from the number of eligible animals for the individual scheme as was the case up to now. The new arrangements have also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of on-farm inspections under the bovine schemes.
An additional factor in the 2002 schemes is that the national quota for the special beef premium scheme has been exceeded with an increase in the number of animals submitted for the premium in late December 2002. It will not be possible to definitively determine the exact percentage overshoot until such a time as all December 2002 applications have been fully processed. Balancing payments are expected to commence in April 2003.