Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 440: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive clearance from her Department for the single farm payment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30487/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The person named received his Single Payment in December 2005 but he had also submitted an application for consideration of Force Majeure /Exceptional Circumstances in relation to the establishment of his entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme. He made the application on the grounds that his farming production in the reference years had been adversely affected by his medical condition. This application was initially incorrectly refused on the grounds that the additional medical information requested from the person named was not submitted within the allowed timeframe. However, on review it has been discovered that the requested information had, in fact, been forwarded by the person named albeit to another section of the Department.

Following a re-examination of the circumstances of this case, my Department has decided that the year 2002 will be excluded and the years 2000 and 2001 will be utilised for the purposes of calculating the Single Payment Entitlements of the person named. This will result in an increased Single Payment. Arrangements have now been made to issue a supplementary payment in respect of the 2005 Single Payment Scheme and a formal letter will issue to the person named in respect of this decision.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 441: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food when a 2005 national reserve top-up from the single farm payment will issue for a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary; the reason for a delay in issuing confirmation to the person; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30579/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The person named submitted an application for an allocation of entitlements from the 2005 Single Payment Scheme National Reserve under Category B. Category B 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 – 2002. Investments can include purchase or long-term lease of land, purchase of suckler and/or ewe quota or other investments.

This application under Category B has been deemed successful and a formal letter setting out my Department's decision has issued to the person named. If he is dissatisfied with my Department's decision in relation to the National Reserve, he now has the opportunity to appeal this decision to the Independent Payment Appeals Committee. An appeals application form is available from any of my Department's offices or on the Department website at www.agriculture.gov.ie.

This particular case also involved a successful application under the New Entrant measure of the Single Payment Scheme and had to be examined under the anti-accumulation provisions of the regulations to ensure that allocation from the National Reserve did not result in double benefit.