Vol. 556 No. 3
441 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the reason for the delays in payments of grants and maintenance from the forest service; the steps being taken to ameliorate the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19909/02]
All valid claims in respect of afforestation grants and premiums submitted to the forest service of my Department are processed in accordance with established procedures and payment is made as quickly as possible and in accordance with my Department's customer service deadlines. Delays may occur occasionally for specific reasons, for example, incomplete documentation submitted by the applicant, necessity for field inspection or in instances where it is necessary to enter into correspondence with the applicant. However, I am satisfied that there is no undue delay in processing the payments in any of these cases. If the Deputy has information in relation to any specific cases where delays have occurred, he should make contact with the forest service of my Department.
