Vol. 564 No. 3
64 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his proposals to resolve the ?20 million double beef premium penalty facing producers who applied on over 50 animals for special beef premium in 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9070/03]
The extent of the overshoot on the 2002 special beef premium is not yet fully calculated though it is clear a significant overshoot will arise. The fact that the effect of any overshoot would fall on producers who applied for over 50 animals was part of the decision to raise the total eligible number of applications from 90 to 180. The scale of the overshoot is the result of a surge of applications submitted to my Department in late December 2002. This followed the early publication of a confidential draft legal text of the Commission proposals for the mid-term review, which included 2002 as one of three reference years for the purposes of establishing entitlements to the single direct payment. I have raised the matter with the European Commission with a view to finding a means of minimising the impact on farmers.
