7.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), regulation 8 and Article 51 of Council Regulation 1698/2005, payment of less favoured area compensatory allowance in respect of the descriptions of eligible forage area specified in column 1 of Schedule 2 shall be made at the rates specified in column 2 of Schedule 2.
(2) The amount of the payment under paragraph (1) may be increased by an amount determined by the Department if the number of suckler cows and heifers expressed in livestock units kept by a claimant throughout at least the minimum grazing period is at least 25% of the number of the claimant’s relevant animals expressed in livestock units.