Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 4

Written Answers - Grant Applications.

Ulick Burke

Ceist:

143 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of applications to his Department under the various schemes in respect of County Galway which were refused grant aid in 1997; the most common reason for refusal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6376/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

The position is that payments under the various 1997 livestock headage and premium schemes, which account for the majority of applications, do not conclude at the end of the calendar year. Therefore it is not possible, as yet, to give the number of applications refused payment under the 1997 schemes. For example, under the suckler cow premium scheme and the special beef premium scheme the regulations provide for advance payments commencing on 1 November of the year of application with balancing payments commencing in the following year. Payment to applicants under the October 1997 suckler cow premium scheme cannot commence until such time as the six month retention period expires in April 1998. Payment of the final instalment of the 1997 ewe premium commenced on 17 February 1998 in line with EU regulations. Payment of 1997 extensification premium will be made automatically to eligible farmers in the period April-June 1998. In so far as the disadvantaged areas' headage schemes are concerned every effort is made to make payment in full in the year of application. The following table gives the percentage of applicants paid in County Galway under the various 1997 livestock headage and premia schemes:

Scheme	% paid
Cattle Headage/Beef Cow	93
Sheep Headage	94
Ewe Premium	95
Special Beef Premium	92
Suckler Cow Premium	93
Slaughter Premium	99

Those cases unpaid may not have yet established eligibility and are under query for one reason or another. For example, up to 2 per cent of cases cannot be processed for payment because of queries with the farmers concerned, other cases are subject to penalties because of breaches of conditions and would have been excluded from participating in the schemes for either one or two years while some others have submitted an incorrect area aid application or indeed failed to submit one at all. Payments continue to be made under all the schemes as queries are resolved. Under EU regulations, all eligible applicants under the 1997 livestock premium schemes must be paid by 30 June 1998.

As regards other schemes the position is:

Scheme	Number Refused	Main Reason for Refusal
Scheme for Commercial Horticulture	9	Proposed investments were eligible under the farm improvement
		programme. One of the criteria laid down for this scheme is that proposed investments which qualify under another scheme are not considered
Scheme of Early Retirement from Farming	2	Technical deficiencies in applications
Hardship Grant under the TB/Brucellosis Eradiction Schemes	34	Holding of the applicant had been derestricted prior to receipt in district veterinary
		office of application for hardship grant
Quality Stallion Purchase Incentive Scheme	1	Selected stallion was not considered to be of premium quality
Artificial Breeding Techniques Scheme	4	Failure to supply adequate business plans
Horse Marketing Centres	6	Failure to rank sufficiently high on a list of projects proposed for the western region