Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Department has many responsibilities in this area. One is to secure the level of payments we get annually from the Commission. The amount is €1.5 billion across the various schemes. Prior to the Deputy's arrival in the House, but in the not too distant past, the State incurred fines of almost €70 million for not adequately policing EU schemes. This hit affected the entire farming community. While fair procedures must be ensured, we must also abide by the accountability process to which we are subject in respect of public funds the EU gives us under the CAP. This must be done fairly and I acknowledge the court's decision in this regard. We will study it, and if there are spillover consequences in respect of other decisions the Department has made, we will have to consider how the judgment impacts on them. However, it is a little premature at this stage. We await the judge's final comments on 28 July and there are meetings this afternoon in the Department between senior counsel and senior officials in my Department to study all the implications of the judgment. I acknowledge it is a significant issue in which farmers are interested. Many of them feel they would have been unfairly treated. We will have to see the implications, if any, of the judgment in this respect.

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