Vol. 398 No. 9
5 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if there is adequate financial provision in the Community Support Framework 1989-1993 to finance the extensions to the disadvantaged areas scheme as announced; the level of Exchequer funding which will be required to match EC funds; if such funding will be made available in 1991; and the mechanisms which will be made available to farmers to lodge an appeal.
I indicated recently that the Government's review of the disadvantaged areas scheme has resulted in a decision to lodge a detailed application with the EC Commission in relation to the extension of the scheme.
The application covers the extension of the present disadvantaged areas by adding new areas to the list of less severely handicapped areas; the designation of certain coastal areas as areas suffering from specific handicaps — the first two proposals will result in an extension of about 2 million acres — the reclassification as less severely handicapped of those areas now designated mountain sheep grazing areas, 255,000 acres; the reclassification as more severely handicapped of certain areas, 1.3 million acres, now designated as less severely handicapped; and restructuring the scheme to provide for an increase in headage rates and for greater modulation of payments to reflect differing degrees of handicap.
There is adequate provision in the Community Support Framework 1989-1993 to finance these proposals.
The extension of the present disadvantaged areas requires a Commission proposal to the Council of Ministers and agreement by a qualified majority in the Council. The other proposals require the approval of the EC Commission. Until the relevant procedures are completed it is not possible to indicate the level of Exchequer funding which will be required to implement the measures to be approved. When fully implemented, the new proposals, together with the abolition this year of the off-farm income restriction, will increase headage payments from £60 million to £100 million a year. In addition to receiving increased headage payments, farmers in the newly designated areas will benefit from increased investment aids, exemption from the milk co-responsibility levy and the special supplement to the ewe premium.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking public representatives, county councils, farming organisations, local interest groups and individuals who made about 1,000 submissions in connection with this most recent — the fourth — and most comprehensive and extensive of all boundary reviews of the disadvantaged areas to date. The field work for the survey covered an area of 6.68 million acres, a total of 1,636 district electoral divisions and over 20,700 townlands in 22 counties. Almost 49,000 holdings or 57 per cent of the total submitted were visited by the Department's agricultural officers and surveyed in detail.
I am not in a position at this early stage to give precise details of the appeals system.
Will the Minister inform the House whether farmers who qualify for the first time for the new level of payments will be paid in 1990? How can an appeals system be "reasonable" if farmers are totally unaware of whether their holdings are covered by the headage areas before Brussels stamps them?
The Deputy will notice that, in contrast with two previous occasions when the Government were at least offering support, there is now an appeals system in operation which did not obtain before. Furthermore, he will be aware that, on each of those occasions, no information was conveyed until the matter was finally decided by the Commission. I wish Deputies opposite would be consistent. They are now asking that I change that — which is not possible — in view of the requirements of the Commission and the Council.
Deputy O'Dea had it in the Limerick Leader this week.
That is the reality.
I am now proceeding to deal with other questions. I am calling Question No. 6 in the name of Deputy Sheehan.
Will they be paid this year?
The Deputy may not interrupt any further.
I never held out the view that they would be paid this year.
The Minister did.
