Seymour Crawford
Ceist:152 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan can expect to receive a 2001 suckler cow premium; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25391/02]
Written Answers. - Grant Payments.
The person named applied on nine cows and two heifers under the 2001 suckler cow premium scheme for small-scale milk suppliers on 23 April 2001. His milk quota for the year in question was 18,710 gallons. The terms and conditions of the scheme provide that an applicant must have sufficient cows surplus to the cows needed to produce his quota and also provides that the number of notional dairy cows needed to produce the milk quota is that quota divided by 876 gallons. As the person named declared on his application that he held a total of 20 dairy and suckler cows it was therefore determined that he had insufficient cows to produce his milk quota and he was therefore not eligible for payment under the suckler cow premium scheme.
The agricultural adviser of the person named wrote to my Department on 14 January 2002 explaining that the person named had sold cull cows in January 2001 with the intention of replacing them with fresh dairy cows in early April 2001 but was prevented from doing so due to foot and mouth disease controls. He requested that my Department take into account the actual number of gallons of milk produced by the person named rather than the milk quota held by him for the purpose of calculating the number of notional dairy cows and that this would enable the person named to qualify for payment under the 2001 suckler cow premium scheme.
As the EU regulations currently apply, it is not possible to determine notional dairy cows based on the number of gallons of milk produced. However, my Department has written to the European Commission for an interpretation of these regulations with regard to a similar case and we are awaiting a reply on the matter. In the event that the decision by the European Commission is favourable my Department will re-examine the application submitted by the person named.