Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 237: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if her attention has been drawn to an application by a person (details supplied) in County Galway for single payment entitlements under the national reserve; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that this person was a victim of the Gort floods in the late 1990s and had to have their entire farm buildings relocated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8228/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm that an application to the national reserve has been received from the person named who has applied under category B — the investment category.

The position with regard to the 2005 single payment national reserve is that all applications are being processed at present and in view of the number of applications received and accompanying documentation submitted, it will be some time before processing is completed. The Deputy will appreciate, therefore, that it is not possible to indicate at this stage whether the person named will qualify for an allocation of entitlements from the reserve on foot of an application submitted. Applicants will be notified of their eligibility or otherwise as soon as all applications are processed.

The person named had previously applied to have his case treated as one of force majeure but since the reasons put forward may have been regarded as force majeure in respect of 1995 when the flooding took place, they could not be deemed to be force majeure in respect of 2002. His application was rejected accordingly. He appealed this decision to the independent single payment appeals committee which, having examined the full circumstances of the case, recommended that my Department's decision should be upheld.