Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 6 Oct 1998

Vol. 494 No. 4

Written Answers. - Land Annuities.

Willie Penrose

Ceist:

220 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the proposals, if any, the Government will bring forward to deal with the problems of Land Commission annuities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18710/98]

Willie Penrose

Ceist:

225 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of farmers experiencing difficulties in meeting their land annuity commitments; the steps, if any, he will take to implement a buy-out scheme and set in train a process of an easy payment system to help farmers over these difficulties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18724/98]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 220 and 225 together.

At present 5,914 farmers out of 8,551 are in arrears with their land annuities and they owe £4.7 million. The following is a breakdown of the figures:

	Number	Amount
		£
May/June 1998 instalments only	1,148	130,577
May/June 1998 and earlier instalments	3,725	4,356,661
Earlier instalments only	1,041	225,998
	5,914	4,713,236

I have no proposals at present to introduce a buy-out scheme like the one in 1993 whereby farmers could buy-out their annuities at a discount of 50 per cent on the outstanding capital provided any arrears of repayments were also paid.

I can, however, inform the Deputy that Inspectors from my Department have been and still are visiting farmers who have arrears with a view to assessing the reasons for non-payment. If it is found that the annuity is excessive relative to the earning capacity of the farm and the family circumstances, it is intended to capitalise the arrears and to reduce the repayments to a more reasonable level which will result in an extension of the repayment period. On the other hand if it is found that there is no good reason for non-payment of annuities my Department will consider pursuing legal avenues to effect payment.