Vol. 543 No. 2
252 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of applications under the farm waste management scheme which have been returned to farmers; the reasons therefore; and if he will make a statement on customer service in his Department. [26273/01]
In excess of 2,100 applications have been received in my Department under the scheme of investment aid for farm waste management. Some 300 of these applications have been rejected or returned to farmers or consultants for further information. The reasons include deficient or incomplete documentation in relation to applicant's non-farm income, lack of sufficient detail to determine planning permission requirements of proposed works and income unit declarations not corresponding to records held in my Department of livestock numbers on applicant's holdings.
My Department is committed to providing a quality customer service for all its customers. The protocol on direct payments to farmers, agreed under the PPF with the social partner farm organisations, launched in July 2000, reinforced this commitment to delivering a quality service and recognised the importance of the contribution of direct income payments to the financial position of farmers.
The protocol, building on the progress made under the charter of rights for farmers and the customer service action plan 1998-2000, sets out a programme for further improvements in the quality of service, its delivery and the information provided for farmers as well as setting specific delivery and service targets for the wide range of direct income payments to farmers. In addition it clarifies how schemes will be administered, gives greater clarity to the inspection procedures and sets out how and when farmers will be advised of problems with applications.
Among the schemes covered under the protocol are the on-farm investment schemes, including the scheme of investment aid for farm waste management. Compliance with the protocol is monitored by the protocol monitoring and review committee. Feedback is very positive and has acknowledged a significant and sustained improvement in the quality of service in recent years.
All applications under the farm investment schemes are processed in accordance with standard procedures. These procedures are considered to be the minimum necessary to ensure that applicants fully comply with the terms and conditions of the scheme. The scheme documents and the application forms themselves include checklists of documents required to support a valid application. In addition, as part of the information campaign surrounding the launch of these schemes, my Department held regional information seminars for consultants and advisers, who prepare applications for farmers.
To deal with individual problems which are not resolved otherwise, the Department operates a formal complaints procedure through which farmers may have complaints about the quality of service they receive resolved. Details of the complaints procedure are available at all the Department's public offices.
