Brian Cowen
Ceist:290 Mr. Cowen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason a townland (details supplied) in County Laois has been excluded from the disadvantaged area scheme. [2351/97]
Written Answers. - Disadvantaged Areas Scheme.
Areas selected by the Disadvantaged Areas Appeals Panel to be recommended for disadvantaged area status were defined as either a district electoral division which satisfies all criteria, or one or more contiguous townlands in the DED which together satisfy all criteria, subject in either case to the area joining onto the existing or new disadvantaged areas boundary.
The district electoral division of Ballinakill, County Laois, exceeded the stocking density limit of less than one livestock unit per forage hectare, and the appeals panel could not, therefore, propose the total DED for inclusion in the disadvantaged areas.
On examination of the individual townlands in the DED, Lisbigney was found to exceed both the stocking density and income criteria. It was not possible to aggregate this townland with any other contiguous townlands in order to create a group which would satisfy all of the criteria, and consequently, it could not be included in the list of areas proposed by the panel for designation as disadvantaged.