Vol. 417 No. 1
284 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if an appeal has been received from an area (details supplied) for inclusion in the severely disadvantaged area scheme under EC Directive 268/75; and if so, when a decision on the appeal is expected.
I can confirm that the appeals panel has received an appeal application in respect of the townland of Barnagarrane in the district electoral division of Broadford, County Limerick and that it is included in the list of areas currently being surveyed by Departmental inspectors. When the processing of all survey data is completed in the autumn, the appeals panel will be in a position to examine the survey results and make recommendations to my Department as to the areas to be included in a submission to Brussels. The final decision on areas to be classified as disadvantaged rests with the EC Commission but it is too early to say when such a decision will be made.
285 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the amount available from the EC to finance the lands to be included in the disadvantaged areas and severely handicapped areas after the appeals procedure is exhausted; and if he will clarify the position if the amount of land meeting the criteria exceeds the financial provisions made.
The matter of EC funding for any extension of the disadvantaged areas in Ireland arising from the appeals procedure now in place is one for consideration by the EC Commission when it is asked to respond to the Governments submission following completion of appeals procedure.
I have every confidence that adequate EC financing will be made available for any future extension or reclassification of our disadvantaged areas particularly against the background of the proposals from EC Commission President Delors for increasing the entire EC budget including that for the Structural Funds.
