Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Wojciechowski said there is a lot of bureaucracy. We know from farmers that they feel the burden of bureaucracy when they have to fill out reports. What steps is the Court of Auditors taking to try to minimise that? The witnesses talked about making the processes simpler. However, there is a general concern that the European Commission is overly bureaucratic in many ways. Given that, what concrete steps are being pursued to ensure the process can be cut down so members are not obliged to hear it has been six years since Ireland has had a review in respect of the Leader programme? That is not progressive. We need to know a timeframe. Targets were mentioned and we need to know when Leader will be reviewed. I would like to hear that it will be reviewed on a two or three-year basis. Then we can take action in Ireland, based on the conclusions of the reports of the European Court of Auditors. If we must wait for six years, loads of time will have moved on and we will have lost the opportunity. To me, there is a burden of bureaucracy. That is what I am hearing with regard to reporting on the RDP and Leader. What concrete steps is the court taking to reduce that burden both for itself and for applicants looking for funding?