Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

It is a complex issue and I am not quite sure it is at the heart of the dispute. There may be other consequences arising from the dispute. In fact, we are dealing with more than 100 schemes here. Obviously, REPS and the farm waste management scheme are two of the highest profile schemes and we do not want to see any delays in these. I am hopeful that resolution of the dispute will ensure that payments under these two schemes in particular, as well as all the other schemes, are issued in a timely manner. This is one of the reasons for the importance of resolving this dispute as quickly as possible. Under EU requirements, no REPS 4 payments can be made until all 11,400 applications submitted in 2008 have been checked. As matters stand, some two thirds of all applications have not yet been processed to finality, and the current action is a major factor in this regard. Hence, the Deputy will agree it is vital that all involved enter into this dialogue in as positive a frame of mind as possible, because we do not want collateral damage arising from this dispute to make life even more difficult than it already is for farmers who are awaiting payments.

The Deputy mentioned REPS compliance inspections. All I can say is that the inspections ceased in 2008 and IMPACT has since sought their reintroduction on the grounds that their discontinuation without prior consultation was a breach of the provisions in Towards 2016. To date, the Department has refused to reintroduce the inspections on the basis that their reintroduction cannot be justified given the findings of the EU auditors. The Deputy could say we are caught in a dilemma as we are trying not to go against the EU auditors while remaining positively disposed to dealing with the grievances that have been articulated. With more than 100 schemes in question, the union's request that it be informed of every change in the manner sought does raise practical issues. We must approach this in a practical manner.

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