The payment in question was a top-up payment under the first round of the BSE compensation package. In order to compensate producers at the earliest possible opportunity the regulation governing these payments required that the initial top-up should be based on the number of eligible animals under the 1995 schemes and also required that there should be adjustments upwards and downwards later on to ultimately reflect the number of eligible animals under the 1996 schemes.
The person in question had 12 eligible animals under the 1995 special beef premium scheme but had no eligible animals under the 1996 special beef scheme which in effect meant that he had no entitlement to BSE compensation as the crisis occurred in 1996. As a consequence the money must be recovered. The moneys so recovered will become the pool of money to compensate those farmers who had more eligible animals in 1996 than in 1995.
Regrettably I have no discretion to waive the requirement to pay back the amount outstanding as the precise arrangements governing the BSE compensation payments are detailed in European Council Regulation 1357/96 and are not therefore negotiable at this point.