Vol. 482 No. 8
34 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food whether he has satisfied himself with the degree to which payments have been made to producers in respect of area aid headage payments and so on; the initiatives, if any, he will take to improve the situation in this regard in the near future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19449/97]
61 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his attention has been drawn to the fact that up to 60 per cent of farmers have not received their headage payments, which is clearly inconsistent with the commitment give in the Charter of Farmers Rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19469/97]
67 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the current position regarding the Charter of Farmer's Rights in view of the fact that all headage payments should have been made by 31 October 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19385/97]
I propose taking Questions Nos. 34, 61 and 67 together.
The number of payments made to farmers by my Department to date in 1997 under the various headage and premium schemes is over 1.2 million and involves a sum of £630 million. Under 1997 schemes alone some £378 million has been paid to farmers this year. Different payment target dates apply for the various schemes under the Charter of Rights for Farmers. Under the disadvantaged areas headage schemes the target is to make full payment in the year of application and to make payment in all eligible cases by 31 October. Under the suckler cow premium scheme the target is to commence advance payments on 1 November and, where the retention period is completed by 30 November, to make all eligible advance payments by 31 December. Under the special beef premium scheme the target is to commence advance payments on 1 November and, where the retention period is completed by 1 November, to make all eligible advance payments by 31 December. Under the arable aid scheme the target is to commence payments on 16 October and to have all eligible applicants paid by 31 October.
Apart from payments under the disadvantaged areas headage scheme my Department is on target to meet the payment deadlines set down in the Charter of Rights for Farmers. Indeed, under the EU arable aid scheme, the target has been significantly surpassed.
As regards the headage scheme payments, over 40 per cent of applicants were paid their grants by 31 October 1997, a position comparable to that achieved in 1996. To date some 60 per cent of headage scheme applicants have been paid a total of £67.6 million under the 1997 schemes.
