Gerard Murphy
Ceist:122 Mr. Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the position regarding the application by a person (details supplied) in County Cork for area aid. [8584/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 23 March 2004
Ceisteanna (128)
Freagraí scríofa
The person named included a parcel of land on his 2003 area aid application that was also claimed by another herdowner. Both applicants were contacted and the matter was resolved in favour of the other herd owner. The person named applied for a total area of 46.21 hectares, but the area found was only 36.72 hectares and this resulted in an area overclaim of 9.49 hectares or 25.84%. Under EU regulations, where the overclaim is greater than 20%, a 100% penalty applies unless the area found is sufficient to support a stocking density of 1.8 livestock units/hectare or less.
The person named applied for special beef premium in 2003 in respect of one animal and also participated in 2003 extensification premium. However, as the applicant's stocking density calculation on the found area is greater than 1.8 livestock units/hectare, payment cannot be considered. As required under EU regulations, the applicant's milk quota has to be taken into account when calculating stocking density.