Ar an gcéad dul síos ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire Stáit as ucht teacht agus éisteacht leis an achainí atá mé chun a dhéanamh.
I would like to raise with the Minister of State the problems that arose, in particular in Connemara, under the 1991 ewe premium scheme. As the Minister of State will remember, under the arrangements entered into last year a farmer had to notify the Department of Agriculture and Food if he lost any ewes. At the time we realised, given the nature of farming in Connemara, that this was an impractical and impossible requirement. I have first hand experience of the sheep farming problems being encountered in that area in which there are large commonages which are grazed by mountain sheep in the main. Some of these commonages extend to 23,000 acres. In other areas commonages covering open mountain land, which extend to 500 or 600 acres, are not fenced, even though they back onto another commonage.
I know from experience of managing a 1,000 acre sheep farm over a long number of years that it can be difficult to get an accurate sheep count in Connemara. The only time we get an accurate count is when an inspection is carried out, and even then from year to year one can get strange results. I noticed that some years it appeared we had lost 10 per cent of our ewes even though we did not have bad weather, while in others we only lost 2 or 3 per cent of the total. The reason for this is obvious; it all depends on weather conditions at the time of inspection — if it is wet or misty it can be very difficult to gather the sheep. As a consequence the number on low lying land may be less than the number on the hills. Under this regulation introduced last year a hill farmer has to report the loss within ten days of discovery. Most farmers, in particular young farmers, play the game, know what to do and report the loss on the day of inspection.
While there was a 100 per cent inspection rate in 1991 in this area, we found, however, in certain areas that older farmers in particular did not understand the bureaucratic conditions they had to comply with and, as a result, some of them either made an incorrect report on the day of inspection or made no report at all. As a consequence even though these farmers had acted in a bona fide manner they lost the ewe premium for 1991 and are ineligible to recover it in 1992.
It has been brought to my attention that on the island of Inishbofin eight farmers have been refused payment of last year's premium and are therefore ineligible to receive this year's premium, despite the fact there was no way they could have taken the sheep off the island. In fact the reason for the loss was quite simple: the sheep were washed over cliffs during storms. At the time of inspection however for some reason or other most of the farmers on Inishbofin did not, as they were required to do, report the loss. As a consequence they did not have the required number of ewes and were refused payment of the ewe premium. Again, there was a 100 per cent inspection rate on this island. Indeed, it would cost far more to take the animals off the island than to leave them on it. We are therefore talking about people who just did not comply with the minor requirement of notifying the Department in writing at the time.
I understand that another six to ten farmers in the greater Connemara area have been refused payment of both last year's and this year's ewe premium. In addition, a considerable number of farmers were penalised because there was a shortfall in numbers last year. This has led to these farmers being put under great financial strain and it must be borne in mind that in the case of most of these people the ewe premium is taken into account in assessing their social welfare entitlements. Therefore, even though they have not received the ewe premium, it is being taken into account in assessing their social welfare entitlements.
There is an old saying "Once bitten, twice shy".
It is my understanding however that this year, with one notable exception, this problem has not arisen; that farmers understand the scheme and know what is required. Therefore this should not be an ongoing problem. Having regard to the fact that there was a 100 per cent inspection rate last year in Connemara and taking into account the bona fides of the people concerned and the age of the applicants, some of whom are 75 years of age, I ask the Minister of State to reinvestigate the matter to see if the small number of people concerned — this represented a serious loss to them — could be paid the ewe premium for last year and be allowed to benefit under the scheme this year. I also ask him to consider granting them a quota when the quotas in relation to ewes are allocated to hill farmers; otherwise, in respect of a relatively minor matter these people will find themselves at a totally disproportionate loss.
I would like to pay tribute to both the Minister of State, Deputy Hyland and the Minister, Deputy Walsh, for the reforming zeal they have shown since their appointments with regard to the implementation of the various cattle and sheep headage schemes. The introduction of user friendly forms was very much appreciated, while the meetings to offer advice on various schemes have been a big help. The policy of the Department to treat farmers who acted in a bona fide manner is very much appreciated also. This is the one great problem that remains unresolved from last year. As I have pointed out, in numerical and financial terms it is a small problem, but for the people concerned it is a major one. I ask the Minister of State to favourably consider my suggestion that these farmers should receive payments under the scheme for 1991 and be eligible to receive payments under the scheme for 1992.
