Written answers

Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Department of Agriculture, Marine and Food

Departmental Schemes

9:00 pm

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 439: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in terms of the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme sow welfare grant, in view of the fact that the deadline for loose housing of sows is set for 31 December 2012 and there is much work on farm still to be carried out, if he will give an indication as to when the TAMs for sow welfare will reopen. [33184/11]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) were suspended for new applications on 8 June 2011 pending the outcome of the comprehensive review of expenditure by my Department. I am conscious of the pressures on pig producers and a decision on the re-opening of TAMS will be taken in the context of the outcome of the review and the preparations and finalisation of the 2012 Estimates process for the Department.

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 440: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the following information in respect of the disadvantaged areas scheme on a county breakdown: the number of applicants, the number of applicants paid, the number of applicants awaiting payment, the amount of moneys paid and the amount of moneys outstanding. [33185/11]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There are no delays in payments to farmers under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, payments having commenced, on target, on 22 September, with payments issuing to those farmers whose applications had been confirmed eligible for payment at that time. I can confirm that my Department has, in the interim, continued to pay individuals, as their cases became clear, with payment runs taking place twice a week. This is normal practice and will continue on an ongoing basis, as necessary. In this regard, while I am pleased to note that payments worth €191.7 million have issued to date, representing over 85% of applicants, I remain confident that the full budget for the Scheme will have been exhausted by year-end.

County NameAppliedPaidGross AmountPercentage Paid
Carlow763677€1,479,346.5988.73%
Cavan4,8264,098€8,746,956.1884.92%
Clare6,1595,610€13,436,952.2491.09%
Cork7,0856,073€14,417,132.1085.72%
Donegal8,4226,471€14,876,115.7576.83%
Dublin144105€235,934.0772.92%
Galway12,17710,538€22,738,991.4486.54%
Kerry7,7646,738€16,451,697.0686.79%
Kildare525463€889,325.2788.19%
Kilkenny1,7811,524€3,439,225.1985.57%
Laois1,7121,427€2,943,887.6783.35%
Leitrim3,4982,850€6,268,479.1681.48%
Limerick2,9512,652€5,455,711.0089.87%
Longford2,3952,151€4,695,369.1689.81%
Louth781609€1,052,915.7877.98%
Mayo11,69710,192€21,598,271.1387.13%
Meath1,3341,232€2,381,972.8592.35%
Monaghan4,1023,554€6,973,286.2086.64%
Offaly2,4332,132€4,393,387.5687.63%
Roscommon5,7024,730€10,187,542.2282.95%
Sligo4,0553,319€7,103,837.6781.85%
Tipperary4,5463,842€8,463,186.9284.51%
Waterford1,4561,296€2,936,834.1589.01%
Westmeath2,6432,252€4,642,606.0585.21%
Wexford1,5071,189€2,341,784.9278.90%
Wicklow1,7681,445€3,590,532.3281.73%
TOTALS102,22687,169€191,741,280.6585.27%

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 441: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the following information in respect of the single farm payment scheme on a county breakdown: the number of applicants, the number of applicants paid, the number of applicants awaiting payment, the amount of moneys paid and the amount of moneys outstanding. [33186/11]

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 442: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the following information in respect of the persons that are not paid on a county breakdown: the number of persons not paid as a result of inspections, digitising, transfers and queries. [33187/11]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 441 and 442 together.

There are no delays in payments to farmers under the Single Farm Payment Scheme, the 50% advance payments having commenced issuing, on schedule, on 17 October. While the earliest payment date under the governing EU rules is 1 December, earlier this year I successfully sought the approval of the Commissioner to have advance payments made as and from 17 October. This is the earliest possible legal date for making payments, it being the start of the new EU financial year.

Suggestions have been made that the necessity to re-digitise farmers' maps is leading to unnecessary delays, resulting in payments being made later than would otherwise be the case. I can assure the Deputy and all concerned of my commitment to allocating such resources as is necessary to ensure that the essential digitisation of applicants' maps onto the Department's Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS). I must emphasise, however, that any failings or shortcomings in LPIS would leave the Department open to the very real risk of significant fines. I am not prepared to take such a risk, nor will I compromise the value of direct payments to Irish farmers.

Furthermore, sight should not be lost of the fact that the changes which have been recorded onto LPIS in very significant numbers, both throughout last year and again this year, are necessitated by the need to have all ineligible areas mapped; simply put, the position on the ground in any given farm must be accurately reflected on LPIS. Insofar as inspections are concerned, there are specific requirements laid down in the governing EU Regulations. All inspections are required to be initiated before any payments may commence and this priority was achieved in time to allow the advance payments begin issuing on 17 October.

All cases currently not yet paid the advance, be they inspection-related, or due to transfers, digitising or queries, are being actively pursued, with a view to payments issuing at the earliest possible date. To this end, payments are continuing to issue, on a twice-weekly basis, as individual cases are confirmed eligible. The tabular statement shows the present payments position, on a county basis.

CountyApplicantsNumber PaidValue €
Carlow1,7051,42610,935,789.60
Cavan5,1094,09515,764,702.60
Clare6,3795,66923,155,370.10
Cork13,51710,59669,016,989.80
Donegal8,9046,48919,578,171.70
Dublin6574973,205,467.63
Galway12,71010,45236,374,957.40
Kerry8,2056,88127,393,202.80
Kildare2,1411,70613,564,349.60
Kilkenny3,5732,90623,922,963.10
Laois3,0502,39716,794,568.80
Leitrim3,6552,8037,242,835.24
Limerick5,4244,49623,369,615.80
Longford2,5112,1649,469,734.96
Louth1,5561,1757,543,814.52
Mayo12,13710,27727,965,727.10
Meath3,9203,49827,282,894.80
Monaghan4,3043,47313,767,632.30
Offaly3,2032,63116,016,077.80
Roscommon6,0164,73317,328,037.40
Sligo4,2533,2859,745,379.74
Tipperary7,3095,73941,677,573.10
Waterford2,5702,12717,449,588.30
Westmeath3,1272,47814,049,132.60
Wexford4,1623,20924,383,506.00
Wicklow2,1881,74611,973,759.40

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