§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the reasons were behind the delay in early payments to farmers of the suckler cow premium. [145919]
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§ Ms QuinProducers who submit Suckler Cow Premium Scheme (SCPS) claims early in the application period normally receive advance payments from November onwards. Advances in respect of 2000 Scheme year claims began in December.
The reason why payments began later than in previous years stems from the introduction of a rule allowing producers to claim premium on heifers, up to a limit of 20 per cent. of the total number of animals on the claim. The rule was introduced as part of the Agenda 2000 package of CAP reforms. Although it is relatively straightforward in itself, it necessitated a number of detailed changes to be made, including to the computer system used for making SCPS payments. These changes have taken longer to make than the usual year on year changes which are normally made to the system. As a result, the facilities were not available to RSCs to enable the advances to be paid in November.