In excess of 17,200 applications have been received under the national reserve in my Departments' Castlebar office. It should be noted that the number of actual files which have to be examined is in excess of 22,500 due to the fact that many farmers applied under more than one of the four categories in the reserve.
The rules governing the single payment scheme stipulate that an applicant who is found to be eligible under more than one category in the reserve may only receive an allocation of entitlements under whichever category is most beneficial to him-her. Therefore an applicant who applied to the reserve under more than one category must be assessed under each category initially to determine eligibility under that category and then a decision must be taken as to which category is most beneficial to him-her.
The applications received are being processed but in view of the number of applications received and the documentation submitted, it will be some time before any allocations are made from the reserve. All applicants will be notified of their eligibility or otherwise as soon as all applications are processed. It is envisaged that all allocations from the national reserve will be made in time for payment of the single payment in December 2005.