Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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152. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will assure farmers in counties Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford and in east Galway, whose payments under the agri-environment options scheme have been held up due to an investigation being carried out; his views that these farmers are suffering financial problems, as this has dragged on for a long time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12957/15]

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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Will the Minister reassure farmers in counties Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford and east Galway whose payments under the agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, have been held up due to a Department investigation? What are his views on this? The farmers in the area are suffering severe financial problems so will the Minister make a statement?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am glad the Deputy has given me the opportunity to speak on this important matter. Under the agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, payments to participants fall into two categories of either area-based actions or and non-productive capital investment actions. Participants can receive payments for both actions, which are combined to give an annual payment to the participant. Non-productive capital investments would generally be the purchase and planting of trees and hedgerows.

Under the AEOS, participants must submit a claim for payment for non-productive capital investment actions, supported by appropriate proof of purchase, such as receipts and invoices for trees and hedgerow plants. A review of a sample of claims submitted was undertaken in 2014. This review identified serious irregularities with some of the claims submitted. The Department then instigated a full investigation into the matter. Under the circumstances, all AEOS payments to participants which are the subject of the investigation were put on hold. My Department wrote to each of the participants concerned on 28 January 2015, explaining the situation. The matter has now been referred to An Garda Síochána for its consideration and decisions on individual cases will not be made until the investigation has progressed further. I will brief the Deputy later in more detail if he wishes.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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I have met a good few farmers who may have bought some trees. They had inspections in 2011 or 2012 and everything was in order. These people have had their payments held up as well. There are many very good farmers out there and many of them expected this money before Christmas. They are under serious financial pressure. They have gone to different public representatives, expressing how banks are putting pressure on some of these farmers. The money has not come. Will the Minister provide a date that could ensure some light at the end of this tunnel? For some of these farmers, they are getting to a desperate stage.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am slow to put on the record the detail of what is being investigated as the Garda is involved.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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Sure.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I will brief the Deputy afterwards if he so wishes. We will try to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible and work with gardaí to do so. This is public money being spent and it is co-financed by European budgets.

We must ensure invoices are real and that the numbers of trees and hedgerow plants supposedly purchased are planted, so we are paying for work that is done. There is a concern about those issues in these cases. Some farmers may have got caught up in this although they have done nothing wrong. We need to get to the bottom of it as quickly as we can by helping the Garda to do this, and as soon as this happens, we will make good on the payments due. I have an obligation to ensure that if there is any fraud, it is exposed.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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I understand where the Minister is coming from. During the past 90 to 120 days there should have been no reason that inspectors could not have inspected the 300 to 400 farms to check whether the numbers were in the ground and whether farmers were compliant. The Department should have pushed this side of it.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In essence, that has happened. We conducted an investigation and, as a result, we were satisfied that the file needed to be handed over to the Garda for investigation. Hopefully, this case can be fully investigated quickly and we can get to the bottom of it and sort out the payments of any farmers who may have got caught up in it in an unfair way or inadvertently. If people are drawing down money on false pretences, we must expose and deal with it.