Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Canney. I take on board the points that he is making. I appreciate his authenticity in setting out his personal experience of the challenge he has experienced in his role as Deputy in supporting farmers.

The warnings I have described serve as reminders to ensure applicants are aware of the schemes they are applying for. Experience of EU audits has shown it is clear that consideration of mistakes as obvious errors can only apply after an application has been made by the farmer.

The instance outlined in the Deputy’s question, whereby an application has not been made, must be treated as a late application rather than an error within an existing application. If a farmer does not apply for the ANC scheme by the relevant date, it is treated as a late application rather than as an obvious error. Responsibility to apply for the scheme rests with the applicant, who has 25 working days after the closing date to make a late application. A sliding scale of reductions applies through that 25-day period. In limited cases, late applications can be considered under specific force majeure exceptional circumstance grounds. The obligation is on the beneficiary to notify the Department in writing of the occurrence of such an event. We received 106 appeals to the Department in relation to the non-submission of ANC applications for 2021. They are considered on a case-by-case basis.

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