Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ombudsman for his presentation, which I have read. I apologise for being in and out of the meeting due to attendance in the Dáil.

In respect of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, apart from the appeals process for the new land parcel identification system, LPIS, there are internal departmental reviews, but ultimately these go through the Ombudsman’s office. It is not a significant issue for most of the country, but in my area on the western seaboard it is a major issue. There may be thousands of farmers whose income has been reduced and who could face retrospective penalties. Is there a dedicated unit in the Ombudsman’s office to deal with what could be many hundreds of appeals - maybe more - on the LPIS single farm payment system? The Ombudsman mentions in his report that he has more than 200 cases from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Do a high proportion of those relate to the LPIS?