Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if an application for additional premium quota rights which was made in 2002 and was deemed to be an investment under category B will be considered for additional units from the national reserve allocation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31313/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The person named submitted an application for an allocation of entitlements from the single payment scheme national reserve under category B which caters for farmers who, between 1 January 2000 and 19 October 2003, made an investment in production capacity in a farming sector for which a direct payment under livestock premia and-or arable aid schemes would have been payable during the reference period 2000 to 2002.

The person named submitted an application for an allocation of entitlements from the national reserve under category A, which caters for farmers who inherited land or received land free of charge or for a nominal sum from a farmer who had retired or died by 16 May 2005 and who had leased out his-her holding to a third party during the reference period 2000 to 2002.

It should be noted however that the rules governing the single payment scheme stipulate that an applicant who is found to be eligible under more than one category in the reserve may only receive an allocation of entitlements under whichever category is most beneficial to him.

The position is that over 23,000 applications for an allocation of entitlements from the national reserve were received when account is taken of farmers who applied under more than one category. Processing of these applications is continuing and the intention is to make allocations to successful applicants at the earliest opportunity. The Department will be in touch with individual applicants as soon as their applications are fully processed.