Keaveney welcomes new details of DAS

THOUSANDS of farmers in Co Galway will benefit from the current Disadvantaged Area Scheme (DAS) with over 100,000 payments made nationally under the scheme from applications made earlier this year. The new scheme forms part of the Rural [private] Development Programme 2007-2013 and there is an across the board increase of 8 per cent over 2006 basic rates. The EU Commission is currently carrying out a review of the Disadvantaged Area Scheme across the Community it has now conceded that, due to the complexity of the review, changes that  were to be made will not happen until after the lifetime of this current Rural Development Programme in 2013. Deputy Colm Keaveney said this scheme is a very important issue for farmers and rural Ireland as the total area designated as disadvantaged is almost 75 per cent of Ireland's total land area. From an economic perspective the Less Favoured Areas Scheme is particularly significant, contributing to the support of in excess of over 100,000 Irish farm families, whose ability to farm is restricted by the physical environment, in particular, the impact of the prevailing wet cold climatic conditions in Ireland.   [/private]