Vol. 485 No. 4
4 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on the substantial number of vegetable, fruit and potato farmers who were financially ruined by the bad weather conditions of 1997; and the level of compensations, if any, he will make in these cases. [23577/97]
I recently announced a scheme of assistance for weather related crop losses to provide assistance to farmers whose farm viability is threatened because of crop losses, including horticultural crops and potatoes, caused by the severe weather conditions during 1997. The closing date for lodgement of applications under this scheme with Teagasc is 19 December 1997. When my Department has received all the applications from Teagasc, I will be able to evaluate the extent of the weather related crop damages.
I have provided an amount of £1,200,000 special aid under this scheme. The individual rates of assistance and the maximum amounts payable will be determined on the basis of all eligible applications received. However, payment of aid will be based on the area of unharvestable arable crops and potatoes and on yield losses for grass seed and horticultural crops.
Is the Minister satisfied that a proper media campaign was conducted to let people know this aid is available and will everybody get an opportunity to apply for it?
The matter was advertised on the radio, in national and local papers and through the farming organisations. The people who are affected were made aware of the scheme, and the forms are available from local Teagasc offices. This means that up to 40 people in the Teagasc office were in contact with farmers. I do not know the precise number of applications but there has been a high demand for forms.
All farmers will not be included in the scheme as they must meet certain criteria, for example, an off-farm income of not more than £16,000 per year, a milk quota not exceeding 25,000 gallons, a sugar beet quota, delivered, of less than 1,000 tonnes, a forage area no greater than 50 hectares and a pig production unit not exceeding 100 breeding pigs. The scheme is designed to help small farmers who have been severely hit and whose incomes have fallen.
Given that commonages cannot be included, the criteria of 50 hectares will cause problems for small farmers in the west. Many producers, particularly in the vegetable and fruit sectors, have made a major investment in the industry. Over the years the State and the IDA provided assistance for industries experiencing difficulties. This is the first time these producers have asked for assistance and I ask the Minister to look after them. I also ask him to adopt a lenient attitude to the application forms as some farmers may not know——
A question please, Deputy.
How does he propose to resolve the problems of small farmers in the west? Given that they will not be allowed to include commonages, the criteria of 50 hectares is too big.
The scheme applies to farmers with less than 50 hectares, not more. The amount available under the scheme is £1.2 million. The Deputy referred to producers in the horticultural sector, many of whom almost had their businesses wiped out this year. As they do not have other sources of income they must be considered. It is mainly farmers in the south-east, particularly Wexford, who have been worse hit this year.
I accept that.
