165 Mr. Hyland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he intends to seek EU approval for the securement of headage premia for deer farmers in Ireland. [18759/95]

My Department has recently sought sanction from the Minister for Finance for the introduction of a scheme of compensatory headage payments on deer. The relevant EU regulations provide that in the case of production other than cattle, sheep, horses and goats, the compensatory allowance shall be proportional to the area farmed, less that devoted to the feeding of livestock. In other words the compensatory allowances for deer would be based on the forage area exclusively devoted to deer farming and our proposals have been drafted along these lines.

The proposals require the consent of the Minister for Finance. Formal approval of the European Commission of the inclusion of deer under our compensatory headage payments scheme will also be necessary.