Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Mar 1998

Vol. 488 No. 4

Written Answers - Sucker Cow Premium.

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

The total of the combined individual suckler cow quotas established in 1992 is 1,100,834.

A table showing the number of applications paid, the amount paid and number of animals paid under the suckler cow premium scheme for the years 1992 to 1997 follows. It should be noted that 40 per cent balancing payments are currently issuing to May 1997 suckler cow applicants and that full payments to the October 1997 suckler cow premium applicants cannot commence until the end of April when the six month retention period has elapsed.

A table showing the size and distribution of the national reserves from 1993 to 1997 also follows. There was no national reserve in 1992. The EU regulations provide for the establishment of a national reserve from which quota rights are allocated free to priority categories of producers. The priority categories to whom such rights are distributed are decided by me annually based on recommendations from the Quota Review Group made up of representatives of the main farming organisations, Teagasc, and my Department. The reserve is made up of a percentage of premium rights transferred without the transfer of the holding and serves a repository for rights surrendered by producers who fail to use the required percentage of their quota in a given year.

Number of Applications paid, the Amount paid and Number of Animals paid under the Suckler Cow Premium Scheme.

Year	No. of Applications paid	Amount paid	No. of animals paid
		£m.
1992	88,446	69.847	1,020,875
1993	87,797	71.564	883,761
1994	82,265	102,704	946,839
1995	79,440	123.547	922,504
1996	78,666	139.636	1,025,015
1997 to date under May 1997 Suckler Cow Premium Scheme	60%	132.587	980,683
Advances 70,096 40% Balances 66,071		895,364

Suckler Cow Premium — National Reserves — 1993-97 1993 National Reserve

Source
Quota deducted from Automatic Quotas	11,286
Special Reserve for Small Scale Milk Producers	63,400
Special Reserve for Disadvantaged Areas	8,176
Siphon from 1993 Transfers	392.8
Total 1993 Reserve	83,254.8
Reserve Quota Allocated	36,355
Balance Carried to 1994 Reserve	46,899.8

1994 National Reserve

Source
Balance carried forward from 1993 Reserve	46,899.8
Siphon from 1994 Transfers	1,172.9
Total 1994 Reserve	48,072.7
Reserve Quota Allocated	19,710
Balance carried forward to 1995 Reserve	28,362.7

1995 National Reserve

Source
Balance carried forward from 1994 Reserve	28,362
Siphon from 1995 Transfers	1,395.3
Unused Quota 1993-94	32,068
Total 1995 Reserve	61,826
Reserve Quota Allocated	16,078
Balance carried forward to 1996 Reserve	45,748

1996 National Reserve

Source
Balance carried forward from 1995 Reserve	45,748
Siphon from 1996 Transfers	1,344
Unused Quota 1994-95	13,901
Total 1996 Reserve	60,993
Reserve Quota Allocated	43,149
Balance carried forward to 1997 Reserve	17,844

1997 National Reserve

Source
Balance carried forward from 1996 Reserve	11,844
Unused quota 1996	9,995
*Return of unwanted provisional allocations	2,500
Siphon from 1997 Transfers	1,709
Total 1997 Reserve	32,048
Quota Provisionally Allocated	31,266
Balance Remaining	782

*Estimate.