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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 6 Jun 1996

Vol. 466 No. 5

Written Answers. - Severely Handicapped Areas.

Brendan Smith

Ceist:

144 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the criteria for designation of an area as extremely severely handicapped. [11887/96]

Brendan Smith

Ceist:

145 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason no areas of County Cavan have been included for reclassification as extremely severely handicapped; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11889/96]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 145 together.

The criteria by which areas will be selected for extremely severely handicapped status include the presence of a high proportion of extremely poor land of limited grazing potential which could be described as rough grazing land, and also the presence of excessive climatic conditions such as higher levels of rainfall and windspeed than elsewhere. The selection of the specific areas is being facilitated by the use of satellite imagery, which helps to clearly define the boundaries of rough grazing land.

At the press conference on 23 May 1996 to announce details of the new areas being designated as disadvantaged, I referred to the areas being considered for the new category of extremely severely handicapped.

Unfortunately, due to a typing error, County Cavan did not appear in the list of counties which are being considered. I can assure the Deputy that deserving areas in Cavan will be given full consideration when the final selection of areas is being made.

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