Vol. 435 No. 1
32 Mr. Cox asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will give details of the proposed changes in area aid which differentiate between winter and spring cereals which have been submitted to the European Commission; and the way in which these changes will be implemented.
Under the new support system for arable crops provision is made for differentiation of aid to take account of differences in yields as between homogenous yield regions. A yield region can be an entire member state or a region within a member state.
Historical average yields must be used for the calculation of aid. In Ireland's case official yield figures are not available on a regional basis. In any event the use of homogenous yield regions would not be appropriate in our case because yields obtained by individual producers can vary substantially within any region. Any attempt to differentiate yields (and therefore levels of aid) by region would give rise to anomalies both between and within regions.
Because of these factors I had no option but to designate Ireland as a single yield region which means that all producers are paid at the same rate irrespective of yields. This militates against growers of winter cereals and favours spring cereal producers.
As an alternative to regional yields I sought, during the CAP reform negotiations, a differentiation of aid by winter and spring cereals. I got no support from any other member state.
The EC Commission has recently submitted a proposal to the Council of Agriculture Ministers providing for certain changes in the basic rules covering the support system for arable producers.
During the discussions at Council I have sought a change in the rules which would enable compensatory payments to be differentiated according to yields for winter and spring sown cereals.
