Frank Crowley
Ceist:114 Mr. Crowley asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if any application for a farm grant has been approved for a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if so, when payment will issue.
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
A grant has been approved in this case but, having regard to the level of claims currently on hands, it is unlikely that payment can be made for about two months.
Frank Crowley
Ceist:115 Mr. Crowley asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if an application for a beef premium by a person (details supplied) in County Cork has been approved; and, if so, when payment will issue.
This applicant has been deemed ineligible for payment of grants under the 1991 special beef premium scheme as he sold three male cattle listed on his application but did not present their cattle identity cards for inspection so that my Department could verify the eligibility, or otherwise, of the cattle in question.
Frank Crowley
Ceist:116 Mr. Crowley asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if a farm grant payment has been approved for a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and, if so, when payment will issue.
The grant has been paid.
Theresa Ahearn
Ceist:117 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a beef premium will be paid to a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
This applicant stated that he had sold four of the cattle listed on his application on 28 November 1990. The animals in question were, however, not in his herd at full herd test of 26 October 1990. I addition, he failed to give a satisfactory account of what had happened to another one of the ten cattle listed on his application but not found at inspection of his cattle identity cards. In these circumstances, he is deemed to have made a false declaration relating to his 1990 application and, accordingly, must be ruled out of the 1990 and 1991 special beef premium schemes.
Charles Flanagan
Ceist:118 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason for the delay in payment of an installation aid grant to a person (details supplied) in County Laois.
Because of the complexity of the rules set out in the EC Regulation which governs this scheme the processing of applications is inevitably a lengthy process.
This application has now been determined and it is hoped to have payment made within the next three to four weeks.
Frank Crowley
Ceist:119 Mr. Crowley asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a suckler cow grant payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Cork.
This applicant will be paid his grants under the 1990 suckler cow premium scheme for small scale milk producers shortly.
His application for grants under the 1991 scheme is being processed and, if found in order, will be paid as soon as possible after payments commence under the scheme in December.
Ivan Yates
Ceist:120 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will confirm that the counties of Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Waterford and Westmeath received delayed payments over the period May to September under the ewe subsidy and beef premium schemes; if in future, in the case of the 2nd and 3rd phase of such payments, a reverse order will apply on the grounds of equity; the steps he proposes to take to streamline the payment system so that they occur simultaneously; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Michael Creed
Ceist:127 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if, in view of the very long delay in payment of cattle and sheep headage grants, he will consider introducing a scheme in his Department whereby an equitable rota for payment would be introduced to ensure that no farmer is waiting unduly long, as is currently the case for payment of all stages of these headage grants.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 127 together.
There has been no undue delay in payments under the ewe premium or beef premium schemes in counties Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Waterford and Westmeath nor has there been any general delay in making payments under the premium or headage schemes this year. Perhaps I should explain that payments are prepared in 25 district livestock offices around the country and transmitted to computer division for payment as soon as possible after inspection of herds and identity cards. The introduction of a rota system to regulate either when a local office would send payments to computer division or when that division would make such payments would inevitably mean that payments would have to be held back purely to satisfy a rota requirement. This would be totally unacceptable. The present system whereby payments are made as soon as possible after inspection is by far the most equitable one and I do not intend to change it.