Vol. 481 No. 1
112 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the current stage of the third tier of severely handicapped status; the regions of the country that will be covered by this new designation; its value to farmers in these areas; and when payments will be made. [15440/97]
118 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will seek the reclassification of land from severely to extremely disadvantaged within County Mayo. [15457/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 118 together.
A submission to establish a new category of extremely disadvantaged areas in Ireland was formally presented to the EU Commission on 9 October 1996.
The Commission are carrying out a technical examination of the submission, and discussions between the Commission Services and my Department on the proposals and related matters are on-going.
In general, the submission covers areas of the western counties which have been identified as mountainous or peatland, including coastal and inland islands. I cannot be specific about the actual areas involved or about the ultimate value to farmers until Commission approval is received.
Payments to qualified farmers will be based on existing applications and will commence as soon as possible following receipt of Commission approval.
