asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when the approved grant payments will be processed by the computer; the amount of grants unpaid; and the number of grant applications affected by the delay.
Written Answers. - Processing of Grant Applications.
85.
Grants including those processed by computer are paid as soon as possible after approval. There is generally no undue delay in issuing payments. However a recent delay in payment of reactor grants was caused by the temporary dislocation of work due to preparations for the decentralisation of certain sections of my Department to Cavan. There is a short time lag in payments under the farm improvement programme due to demand exceeding budgetary allocation. 1,150 grants totalling £2.5 million are due to be paid in the coming weeks.