Vol. 569 No. 3
178 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will consider increasing the number of staff in his Department's office in Killarney in view of the six to eight month delay in the payment of REP scheme money to farmers in County Kerry. [17519/03]
The Department generally continues to meet its commitments under protocol for direct payments to farmers. Exceptions will arise when queries are raised about matters pertaining to a particular application. Delays caused by the recent CPSU dispute are being dealt with by the introduction of guidelines aimed at speeding up the processing of the backlog of work created by the industrial action.
179 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the position regarding area based payments for 2002 for a person (details supplied) in County Mayo. [17602/03]
The person named was paid his full entitlement under the 2002 area-based compensatory allowance scheme on 22 January 2003.
