Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With regard to the REPS, total payments of €23.53 million have been made in 2015 to date. The vast majority relate to 2014, while payments for 2015 have not yet commenced. A total of 3,371 REPS 4 applicants have received payments this year to date in respect of their 2014 contracts, while 157 applicants have received payments in respect of their 2013 contracts.

In 2014 there were 865 REPS 4 cases selected for on-the-spot inspections. Almost 96% of these inspections have been fully completed, leaving a further 38 cases to be finalised. In many cases, further documentation is awaited from the REPS participant. Once the outstanding documentation has been furnished, processing of the remaining cases will be completed as quickly as possible.

Under the terms and conditions of REPS 4, all payments are made following initial administrative checks and, where appropriate, following an on-farm inspection. In second and subsequent years annual payments under the scheme also become subject to the participant providing an annual declaration of compliance with his or her agri-environmental plan. Under the terms and conditions of the scheme, it is the farmer’s responsibility to ensure required documentation for the release of payments for all years is submitted on time.

On the AEOS, total payments amounting to €25.67 million have been made to date in 2015. In 2014 there were 1,010 AEOS on-the-spot inspections undertaken. Almost 95% have been fully finalised, leaving just 5% outstanding. Payments for the finalised 2014 inspection cases commenced this week and every effort will be made to issue all outstanding payments for finalised inspection cases in the next few weeks. In many of the outstanding cases further documentation is awaited from the AEOS participant. Other outstanding 2014 inspection cases which have not received payments for the 2014 scheme year relate to administration issues with payments for previous years, which must be resolved before the 2014 inspection results can be finalised.

There is another issue I want to raise, but I will return to it when the Deputy has spoken.

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