Vol. 433 No. 1
15 Mr. T. Foxe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if, in relation to the beef premium scheme, he will give the reason for the submission of all cattle identity cards to Dublin rather than to the local office of his Department; if he will give the proposed arrangements, if any, in the event of loss of cards; and if in the event of cards not being returned to the farmer in time, the arrangements, if any, to be made to allow the sale of these animals.
42 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the arrangements, if any, he will make, in the context of the centralisation of the male beef premium scheme, for the speedy return of cattle identification cards to farmers who need them for legitimate trading purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 42 together.
EC Regulations require all animals being submitted for the special beef premium to be accompanied by administrative documents in order to indicate to intending purchasers the premium status of the animals and to ensure that the premium is not paid more than once at each age category. For the present, the BTE cattle identity cards are being used as administrative documents and applicants for the premium are required to submit these cards along with their applications.
As the Deputy may be aware, I have decided to set up a central office in Portlaoise for processing applications under the special beef premium scheme because I believe that this is the best way to make maximum use of the additional staff being allocated to my Department to handle the extra work arising from the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy reform measures in the cattle and sheep sectors. However, offices will not be available for some time in Portlaoise and, in the meantime, applications for the scheme will be processed at a special office in Dublin. Farmers have, therefore, been advised to send their application forms to Agriculture House in Dublin. However, I have made arrangements also for applications for this scheme to be accepted in local offices in exceptional circumstances. Such applications should be put in a special envelope and maked "special beef premium". I would strongly advise farmers to send their applications directly to the Department in Dublin because this will help to reduce the burden on local offices as they deal with other schemes and at the same time expedite the processing of applications in the new central office.
With regard to the loss of the BTE cards which have been submitted for the scheme, the procedures already in place under ERAD regulations for the replacement of lost cards will be applied. BTE cards are transmitted from the DVO to individual farmers on a daily basis and experience shows that the cards are rarely lost.
I am fully conscious of the importance of ensuring that the BTE cards are returned to farmers in time to enable them to sell their animals. With this in mind I have arranged that the cards will be punched and notched at the time the application is being registered so that they can be returned to farmers within one month of the arrival of the application in the central office in Dublin. As the Deputy may be aware, farmers may not sell animals submitted for the scheme for two months after the lodgement of their application and I am confident that the arrangements in place will ensure that all cards are returned to farmers in time to enable them to sell their cattle as soon as they wish after the end of the retention period.
I appreciate the information in the Minister's reply. I am sure the office in Dublin will be inundated with cards from all over the country. It is possible that some of those cards will be mislaid in the Department of Agriculture just as correspondence is mislaid sometimes in the Department as in other offices. If some of the cards are mislaid will there be provision for the farmers concerned to sell their cattle before replacement cards are issued?
The purpose of the exercise is to streamline the system to ensure that farmers receive grants as quickly as possible. It would be a duplication of existing resources to have applications submitted to a local office and then resubmitted to Dublin or another central location. It is intended to have one central location for the processing of all the beef premium applications to ensure grants will be paid as quickly as possible.
Regarding the Deputy's concern about cards being mislaid, it must be acknowledged that in handling such a large volume of cards it is inevitable that some will be misplaced. On the other hand, there have always been procedures whereby if an identity card is not available to enable a beast to be taken to the mart or the factory, for example, the local office can issue a permit in respect of that animal. I do not anticipate any difficulty in regard to either the operation of the centralised office, which is in the interest of farmers or, alternatively, in regard to farmers who may not have the identification card for the purposes of selling an animal.
Will it take long to issue such a permit?
The experience has been that the staff in the district veterinary offices have always been helpful and co-operative. My experience is that even on the morning of a sale the BT office will issue a certificate once the animal can be identified in the Department's records.
I will hear a reply to Question No. 13 in the name of Deputy Robert Molloy providing it is dealt with promptly.
