Vol. 563 No. 4
186 Mr. N. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if measures will be put in place to reduce the hardship on farmers who are facing the imposition of a penalty in view of the 8% overshoot on the 2002 special beef premium. [7646/03]
The extent of the overshoot on the 2002 special beef premium is not yet fully calculated though a significant overshoot will arise. The scale of the overshoot is the result of a surge of applications submitted to my Department in late December 2002. This followed the early publication of a confidential draft legal text of the Commission proposals for the mid-term review, which included 2002 as one of three reference years for the purposes of establishing entitlements to the single direct payment. I have brought the matter to the attention of the European Commission with a view to finding a means of minimising the impact on farmers.
