Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 January 2010
304 Deputy Ulick Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the number of farmers in County Galway that have received assistance or financial support from his Department following the flooding in December 2009; the amount already allocated by his Department; the average value of each allocation; his estimate of the final allocation from his Department to assist these farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2400/10]
View answerMindful of the hardship and distress caused by the recent widespread flooding, on 27 November 2007 I announced the introduction of the Fodder Aid Scheme, targeted directly at those farmers who encountered damage to fodder in the affected areas, for which I assigned a budget of €2 million. While I was very anxious that the funding reach the affected farmers as quickly as possible, it was essential that farmers demonstrate that their fodder was damaged and to what extent. To this end, therefore, it was necessary that each claim be verified by an on-the-spot inspection. I had initially set the closing date for receipt of applications as 11 December, but subsequently extended it by one week. Immediately applications began to be received by my Department, the necessary inspections were begun, following which the applications were further processed for payment. I am pleased to say that payments commenced issuing on 18 December and, to date, payments worth €464,468 have issued to 215 applicants nationally, of which, payments worth €213,135 have been made to 89 Galway herd-owners. Nationally, the payments made are worth an average of €2,160, while in Galway the average, to date, is €2,395. Further payments continue to issue as individual cases are confirmed eligible.
