Vol. 473 No. 2
115 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason his Department is seeking maps from farmers under the area aid scheme who have already submitted such maps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24885/96]
As part of the reform of the Com-Agriculture Policy in 1992, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry was obliged under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3508/92 to establish the Integrated Administration and Control System, or IACS. A specific requirement of the system was the development of an alphanumeric land parcel identification system, or LPIS, for all land parcels which are the subject of an area aid application. The purpose of this parcel identification system is to provide the Department with a database whereby land parcels being claimed for area aid purposes can be located, identified and have area values and land use attributed. The deadline for implementation of the system was 1 January 1996.
The LPIS operated for the 1996 area aid scheme and is currently being updated for 1997. As part of this update, some applicants for area aid have been requested to supply maps because their 1996 applications contained inadequate details of land parcels. In the event that an area aid applicant has been requested to submit a map which he supplied with a previous application, he should notify my Department in writing or by phone and identify the townland in which that parcel is located. My Department will then arrange for the issue of a map of the townland in question.
