Denis Naughten
Question:662 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of applications received under the national reserve scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1577/05]
View answerWednesday, 26 January 2005
Questions (599, 600)
Denis Naughten
Question:669 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of applications received under each category of the national reserve scheme; when she hopes to inform applicants of the decision on their application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1853/05]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 662 and 669 together.
The total number of applications received in the national reserve section of my Department up to 21 January 2005 was 13,600. However, additional application forms lodged in the local offices of my Department on Friday last are being returned to the national reserve section at Michael Davitt House, Castlebar. A final figure will not therefore be available until next week and I will arrange to have details sent to the Deputy as soon as the information becomes available. The details requested in relation to the number of applications by category are not yet available, but will be sent to the Deputy as soon as the information becomes available.
A farmer must have an eligible hectare of land for each payment entitlement allocated from the national reserve. Therefore, in processing applications, priority, from a timing point of view, will be given to applications from farmers who may qualify for additional single payment entitlements from the national reserve as distinct from farmers who may qualify for a top-up on existing entitlements. Farmers in the former category will need to know the number of payment entitlements to which they will be entitled before submitting their 2005 single payment application form the closing date for which is likely to be 15 May 2005. Accordingly, I hope to notify such farmers in plenty of time before the closing date for their single payment application. The amounts to be allocated will be notified to all farmers subsequently.