106 Mr. D. Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if the altered scheme of compensation for persons in mountain areas has been approved by the European Union; the date approval was received for the scheme; and if additional payments have been made to the persons involved. [32206/01]

Following a thorough review of the area based compensatory allowance scheme, proposals have been submitted to the European Commission for increased payment rates for farmers with mountain-type land. The proposal involves making a payment of £80 per hectare on the first ten hectares of mountain-type land, with a payment of £70 per hectare on each remaining hectare subject to an overall payment ceiling of 45 hectares. Subject to securing the necessary EU approval, it is intended that the revised payment rates will take effect in the current year.

This issue is still under consideration by the Commission services and it is hoped that a decision will be made next January.