Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will get into some of the specifics in the supplementary exchanges. This is something that is exercising the minds of many in the Department.

Under the rural development programme the Department has delivered over 20 new schemes that have been supported by IT capability in the past two years. In the first two years of the current rural development programme the Department implemented substantially more RDP schemes than had been delivered in the entire ten-year lifetime of the previous programme. To date, Ireland has drawn down funding at a rate that is 2.4 times higher than the EU average. This rate of delivery and draw-down would not have been possible without the availability of high-quality complex IT software systems to support the business units in the operation of these schemes.

Since 2014 the Department has adopted a policy of implementing fully digital end-to-end support for all but the smallest of schemes. It has an excellent record in the delivery of high-quality ICT systems. In that respect, it is ahead of our European partners and also highly regarded across the Civil Service and the public service.

We have been constantly among the first to make payments in the European Union. The Deputy will be aware from previous discussions on the GLAS programme that a number of issues have delayed payments. They have included a declaration by applicants of an incompatible parcel usage for the GLAS action chosen; changes in parcel boundaries on which a GLAS action is chosen, including splitting or the merging of parcels; an applicant no longer claiming the parcel on BPS 2016; incomplete documentation such as incorrect information on the low-emission slurry declaration; incomplete interim commonage management plans; and incompatible data and parcel history on Department databases. Separately, a number of issues arose relating to the GLAS IT system, with additional functionality being required to deal with non-standard cases. As advised previously, I regret the difficulties this may have caused for a number of farmers.

I am happy to advise that the IT aspect of the delivery of these schemes has been reviewed and that a revised team structure has been put in place. This matter will continue to be monitored.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

All but a small amount of outstanding work has been addressed and plans are in place to address this issue in the coming period. The delivery of payments in 2017 is ongoing, with GLAS I and II advance payments almost complete. GLAS + advance payments in respect of 2016 have issued to the majority of eligible applicants in recent days. In addition, the GLAS I and GLAS II balancing payments are scheduled to issue in the coming weeks, subject to the receipt of the applicant's nutrient management plan.

TAMS IT functionality is also available to pay the vast bulk of applicants. A relatively small number of TAMS II applications are subject to penalty and it is expected that payments for the majority of these cases will be issued in the coming weeks.

The Deputy will be aware that I have recently extended the deadline for the knowledge transfer schemes to 31 July. This will allow facilitators and vets further time to finalise actions for knowledge transfer group participants. It is anticipated that payments under the scheme will be made as scheduled in the autumn. A recent difficulty in the operation of the new systems provided by my Department for knowledge transfer farm improvement plans and animal health measures has been addressed. I anticipate that payments under the scheme will be made as scheduled in the autumn.

The Deputy can rest assured that I will do everything in my power to ensure the Department's ICT systems will have the necessary resources and capacity to deliver on our responsibilities to the farming community and other customers in the future.

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