§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if, in view of the substantial increase in farmers' borrowings in 1983 and the financial position of many farmers, he will take steps to ensure that the hill and upland compensatory allowances are paid without further delay;
(2) if, in view of the failure by the Council of Ministers in Brussels to agree the payments for the hill cow, hill ewe 362W and upland ewe compensatory allowances, he will now take steps to make payment to the farmers of that portion of the compensatory allowance which is funded by the Government pending agreement at any future meeting in Brussels.
§ Mr. MacGregor[pursuant to his reply, 19 January 1984]: I fully appreciate the concern of hill farmers throughout the United Kingdom to have their hill livestock compensatory allowances paid promptly. That is why at the Council of Ministers meeting on 9 and 10 January we pressed for the continuation of the Community's less-favoured areas directive in 1984, which would have enabled us to do this, but other Member States could not agree to the terms at that stage. This means that we are not for the present in a position to begin paying the 1984 allowances; the legal difficulties surrounding this have still to be resolved. We are pressing for an urgent decision in Brussels and meanwhile claims are being processed so that payments can begin as soon as they way is clear.