James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will expedite an appeal which was submitted in June 2007 in respect of a single farm payment of persons (details supplied) in County Longford; the reason for the delay in processing the application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7161/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The first person named is the registered herdowner in this case.

The herdowner submitted applications for consideration for an allocation of entitlements under both the 2005 National Reserve and the 2007 National Reserve.

Under the 2005 National Reserve, he applied under Category B which caters for farmers who 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 included purchase or long term lease of land, purchase of suckler and/or ewe quota or other investments. He applied under Category B(iv) in relation to other investments. He was deemed ineligible under this category as there was no overall increase in production as a result of the investment.

Under the 2007 National Reserve, the herdowner applied under Category C which caters for farmers for whom at least 40% of their Single Payment was derived from direct payments associated with sheep production (Ewe Premium/Rural Word Premium) during the reference period. Their existing Single Payment must be less than €6,000 and the value of individual payment entitlements must be less than the District Electoral Division (DED) average value. He has been deemed ineligible under this category as the percentage derived from sheep production is only 21.7% which is less than the required 40%. A formal letter outlining my Department's decision has issued to him.

There is no record in the National Reserve Section of an appeal having been submitted in June 2007 in this case. The only documentation received in June 2007 was the National Reserve application form.