Vol. 543 No. 2
291 Mr. N. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will make a suckler cow quota available to a person (details supplied) in County Cork under a category other than category D; and if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this person was depopulated in 1988 and returned to suckler cows in 1990 without a quota. [26630/01]
The person named applied for an allocation of suckler cow quota from the 2002 national reserve under category D. This category was reserved for farmers who apply regularly for the suckler cow premium and who require additional quota to ensure the future viability of their holdings.
Category D ranked in priority after category A – first time applicants under 35 years of age; category B – farmers with holdings on off shore islands; and category C – organic farmers registered with the Department. A special category, category E, for farmers in the Cooley Peninsula also held priority over category D.
All the available quota of 3,048 premium rights was distributed to eligible applicants under categories A, B, C and E. There was no quota available to make allocations to any applicant who applied under category D.
Individual quotas were introduced in 1992. The person named first applied for the suckler cow premium scheme in 1996.
