Vol. 472 No. 4
31 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the total number of tillage farmers in Ireland applying for EU area aid in 1996; the number who had received payment before 1 November 1996; the number awaiting payment on 1 December 1996; the reason for the delay in payment; if such delays are in accordance with the charter of farmers' rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23378/96]
Approximately 16,400 tillage farmers applied for arable aid in 1996. Some 95 per cent of those applicants have now been paid and the remaining 800 or so will be processed in the next two weeks. Payments issued to 6,210 applicants by 1 November 1996 and about 4,300 awaited payment on 1 December. On 2 December, however, 3,471 of these were paid, leaving only about 800 unpaid now.
While I am disappointed that all the deadlines set out in the farmers' charter could not be met this year, the delays incurred in 1996 were due to two significant factors: first, as a result of industrial action in my Department earlier this year, the commencement of processing of area aid applications was delayed by a number of weeks, and second, as part of the integrated administration and control system which is required by the EU in relation to all CAP compensatory and headage payments, Ireland was required to develop a new land parcel identification system, LPIS, in 1996. Given the increased level of checks and controls associated with the new LPIS it was inevitable that some delay in making payment, when measured against the 1995 performance, would arise.
