asked the Minister for Agriculture when the claims will be processed for the extension of the disadvantaged areas scheme in County Cork which were submitted by the County Cork Committee of Agriculture.
20.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Disadvantaged Areas Scheme.
19.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if the EEC disadvantaged areas scheme will be extended this coming year to include such areas as Tarelton, Macroom, Mountrivers, Rylane, Kilcorney and other areas of mid-Cork which have been excluded to date.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 20 together.
The County Cork Committee of Agriculture have been in communication with me on the question of extending the disadvantaged areas in that county. The views of the committee will be fully taken into account in the course of the review of the disadvantaged areas scheme which I announced recently. I have, therefore, invited the Cork County Committee of Agriculture to furnish to my Department details of the precise location and extent of the areas they wish to have considered, together with supporting material based on the criteria of the EEC directive. The carrying out of the necessary detailed analysis of basic statistical and other data will inevitably take some time to complete in full for all proposed new areas, including those in County Cork. When this has been done a case for any appropriate modifications or adjustments will have to be submitted to the EEC Commission and where a sustainable case is accepted by the Commission, the matter will have to go to the Council of Ministers for final decision.
When will a decision be made on the extension of those areas?
I cannot give an indication because submissions have been asked from the various bodies, farming organisations, county committees of agriculture and so forth, and when those have been submitted to the Department they will be transferred to the Council of Ministers and a decision will be arrived at.
Can we get assurance that a decision will be reached before next year's testing?
I cannot give any such assurance but I can assure the Deputy that there will not be any undue delay on my part.
Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that there are thousands of farmers who are delighted that the Department have reversed the decision of the last Minister for Agriculture? Can he say when the closing date will be for the submission of applications? That would help members of county committees to make their case.
I am aware of the anxiety expressed by thousands of farmers in the past few years in relation to this scheme. I hope they are thankful for any improvement in the scheme. A closing date has not been fixed so far.
21.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will extend the EEC disadvantaged areas scheme to include the whole of County Roscommon.
The whole of County Roscommon has already been designated as disadvantaged. However, the question of having further areas of the county classified as more severely handicapped will be considered in the course of the review which I announced recently.
Can we have some assurance in relation to sheep headage payments?
That will be considered when the review is being carried out.
22.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware of the difficulty in having whole electoral areas in the country included in the disadvantaged areas scheme; and if he will have the proposal examined to have part of electoral areas included.
The merits of using parts of district electoral divisions as a basis for delineating any further extension of the disadvantaged areas will be considered during the forthcoming review. Any change from using whole DED's will have to be agree to by the EEC Commission.
Does the Parliamentary Secretary agree that it is desirable there should be a change from the DED system, which is unfair? Would he not agree that the Minister should press to have the thing brought down to the level of townlands or even parishes? As the Parliamentary Secretary is aware, a DED can consist of anything between 600 to 1,000 acres and if more than 50 per cent of it is not severely handicapped the DED is out.
This has been brought to my notice. The main argument for changing from DED boundaries is that in theory a more equitable arrangement would then be possible. It is not clear that in practice it would be feasible to reach a solution satisfactory to all areas without creating more problems than would be solved. No matter which area we decide on, whether DED's, parish or county boundaries, there will be the same arguments.
Has the Parliamentary Secretary or the Minister made direct representations to the EEC in relation to this matter since they came into office?
I am not aware of any such representation. I have not got that information.
In view of the fact that this has been raised and that it is an important issue, why has the Parliamentary Secretary or the Minister not raised the matter? At least why has the Parliamentary Secretary not got the information?
If the Deputy will put down a question——
I will.
23.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if the EEC Commission itself is carrying out a review of the disadvantaged areas scheme at the moment.
24.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if the comprehensive review of the disadvantaged areas scheme announced on 16th September will be concerned with all aspects of the scheme or solely with the inclusion of areas additional to those already designated under the EEC Directive.
25.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state, in relation to the comprehensive review of the disadvantaged areas scheme which he announced on 16th September, who is carrying out the review; if any submissions have yet been received; if he proposes to invite submissions from all county committees of agriculture; if the farming organisations will be involved in the review; if he has set a time limit for its completion; and when he expects to be in a position to make a submission in the matter to the EEC Commission.
With the permission of the Ceann Chomhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 23, 24 and 25 together.
To my knowledge, no general review of the disadvantaged areas scheme is at present being carried out by the EEC Commission. The comprehensive review of the operation of the schemes in this country which I announced recently will be undertaken by officials of my Department. A number of submissions have already been received; these and any further coming to hand in the near future from interests concerned, including county committees of agriculture and farming organisations, will be considered in the review.
As announced, the review will entail a detailed study of all relevant factors; my aim is to have it completed and ready for submission to the EEC Commission as early as possible in the coming year.
Why has the Minister set no time limit for the completion of this review?
I take it the Minister expects, because of the interest shown in the scheme by the different farming organisations and county committees of agriculture, that submissions will be sent in to the Department as early as possible and I am sure there will be no delay in forwarding those submissions to the council.
Why has the Minister not set a time limit to the completion of this review by his own officials? Is the disadvantaged areas scheme being reviewed by the European Commission as part of their overall review of the structural directives now taking place and, in view of the fact that the Minister has set no time limit for his review, it may well be the case that the EEC will have completed their review before ours and our submissions, if any, will not be taken?
I do not think there is any danger of that situation arising. There will be no delay on our part in forwarding these submissions to Europe.
Are there any proposals to increase the rate of headage payments to the maximum which can be paid in the disadvantaged areas under EEC rules?
That is a separate question.
It is one of the items still being considered but any submissions or proposals for increasing grants, and so on, will have to be approved by the Department of Finance.
Would the Parliamentary Secretary agree that the fact that he has set no time limit for the completion of this exercise would suggest that it is nothing but a window dressing exercise?
I would not agree.