Single Payment Scheme - Walsh announces Appeals Procedure and provides update on Single Payment Detailed Rules
The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Joe Walsh TD today announced details of the procedure he has established to deal with appeals made by farmers who are not satisfied with the decisions of his Department in relation to the implementation of the various facets of the Single Payment Scheme.
Appeals Committee
The Minister said that he was establishing a Single Payment Appeals Committee chaired by Mr John Duggan and comprising Appeals Officers from the Agriculture Appeals Office. The Minister said that he was particularly pleased that Mr Duggan had agreed to chair the Committee.
Mr Duggan, who is a farmer and a former Chairman of Avonmore and Glanbia plc, has experience of all aspects of the agricultural sector. Mr Duggan has also served as a board member of both Bord Bia and the Irish Dairy Board.
Minister Walsh said that this new Appeals Committee would deal with appeals from farmers in an independent, fair, comprehensive and efficient manner. He stressed that in view of the implementation of the Single Payment Scheme in 2005, it was imperative for both individual farmers and the agricultural sector as a whole that applications be dealt with efficiently and fairly.
Mr Walsh said that at the outset the Single Payment Appeals Committee would examine appeals in relation to the decisions of his Department under the Force Majeure arrangements. The processing of the 14,000 applications received under this measure had commenced and individual farmers will be informed of the decision in their cases as soon as possible. Farmers who are not satisfied with the Department's decision can submit an appeal to the Single Payment Appeals Committee. It is intended that the Committee will process appeals in a speedy, efficient and independent manner in view of the need to have decisions before the submission of Single Payment application forms in 2005.
Minister Walsh stated that the new Appeals Committee would, in due course, also deal with the appeals from individual farmers in relation to other aspects of the implementation of the Single Payment Scheme including the provisional Single Payment entitlements and individual decisions in relation to the allocation of entitlements from the National Reserve.
Update on Negotiations on Single Payment Detailed Rules Regulation
The Minister confirmed that his Department had made significant progress in Brussels this week in relation to the issue of availability of lands to activate entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme. Detailed provisions have now been inserted in the draft of the Commission Regulation to deal with a range of issues of concern to Ireland, especially for farmers who, for specific reasons, declare less lands in 2005 than the average area of lands they farmed during the reference period (2000 to 2002). At this stage, the draft regulation deals with farmers who will have less leased land in 2005 than the average they declare during the reference period. It will also deal with farmers who have less forage lands because of their participation in national measures such as the Afforestation Programme. In order to benefit from these options, a farmer will have to declare a certain minimum area of land in 2005.
The Minister confirmed that his Department was continuing its ongoing discussions with the European Commission with a view to incorporating further changes in the draft proposals which would deal with the other difficulties facing Irish farmers relating to land availability.
Specifically in relation to forestry, Minister Walsh said that the draft proposals, on implementation, will mean that farmers who planted part of their holding between 2000 and the end of 2004 will still obtain their full payment under the Single Payment Scheme. The draft proposals envisage that in such situations, farmers, who have afforested part of their lands, can consolidate their Single Payment entitlements by applying to his Department to have them transferred through the National Reserve. These farmers would then receive from the Reserve enhanced Single Payment entitlements per hectare calculated on the total forage area declared in 2005. Furthermore, these farmers will be able to benefit from the Forestry Premium on their afforested lands.
The Minister said the Commission had indicated that it hoped to have the detailed rules finalised by the end of March 2004. Finally, Minister Walsh said that he was maintaining direct contact with Commissioner Fischler on these matters and he wanted to express his appreciation to both the Commissioner and his officials for the efforts they had made to solve these and other issues relating to the Single Payment Scheme.
20 February 2004
Date Released: 20 February 2004
