THE Department of Agriculture is to establish a third tier of "extremely severely handicapped" areas covering 1.4 million hectares, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, announced yesterday.
He was speaking on the publication of the results of the Disadvantaged Areas Appeal panel which has allowed an extra 325,000 acres of farmland to be reclassified as disadvantaged. This will benefit some 3,000 farmers.
Significant areas of Westmeath, Lao is, Offaly and Kildare have now been brought into disadvantaged areas following appeals by individual farmers and groups when the last extension was agreed by the EU in 1993.
Speaking in Kinnegad, Co Westmeath, the Minister said the additional areas sanctioned by the EU brought the area of land classified as disadvantaged in Ireland to almost 75 per cent.
Being in a disadvantaged area brings higher premium rates and other EU payments to farmers. The Minister said all areas where appeals were lodged were surveyed and visited by inspectors.
Farmers, he said, who failed to achieve disadvantaged area status would be given detailed information why the EU rejected their appeals.
Mr Yates added that farmers whose lands had now been reclassified would be paid the new rates this year. This meant they could receive £75 for beef cows and an extra £10 per head for sheep.
He said that for the first time since 1975, proposals would be presented to the European Commission for reclassification of 1.4 million hectares as "extremely severely handicapped" areas.
This new tier designation, he said, would include islands and significant areas of Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry and Cork. This classification already existed in EU regulations.
"In excess of 15,000 farmers will benefit from this revision and, pen ding EU approval, will be eligible for additional headage payments from January 1st next," said the Minister.
Mr Yates added that this new tier would give an extra £3 million to farmers working in the most difficult farming conditions and it was very important that this new status was achieved.
"It already exists in European regulations but we will, of course, have to get sanction for it. We are preparing the necessary information for Brussels and should be able to submit it soon."
Mr Yates said the benefits flowing to farmers from the recommendations put forward by the appeals panel would run to £5 million. This would do a great deal to keep people in rural Ireland.
He added that he had extended the date for application for headage grants for the 1996 Beef Cow Scheme to June 7th. The Department would also work from current ewe premium applications for sheep headage payments.