Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his comprehensive delineation of what happened with regard to this particular issue. Keelderry commonage is an area of land owned and claimed by nine applicants under the single payments scheme, basic payment scheme and other area-based schemes which form part of the overall Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, schemes. There are four separate land parcels which were claimed as rough grazing and permanent grassland.

In 2010, one of the nine applicants was selected for inspection. His application included shares in the Keelderry commonage. The inspection findings indicated a reduction in the number of eligible hectares available to all those claiming Keelderry commonage, resulting in a reduced payment under the single payment scheme.

In 2012, as the Senator mentioned, another applicant under the basic payment scheme who also happened to be a shareholder in Keelderry commonage was selected for inspection. This inspection included all lands as declared by the applicant, including the share in Keelderry commonage. In brief, it was found that the applicant, in this instance, was not conducting any agricultural activity on the commonage. Following an appeal to the Agriculture Appeals Office, this decision was overturned and the applicant’s share of the eligible area of the commonage was re-instated. After the issue was raised in the Oireachtas and at the European Parliament petitions committee, in January 2014, the independent Agriculture Appeals Office carried out a review of the decision of the Department regarding the eligibility of the land. This review included a site inspection. All shareholders were notified of this visit and were given a copy of the report of that review in April 2014. The Agriculture Appeals Office confirmed that the land was mainly ineligible and upheld the results of the Department’s inspection of 2011.

A number of the shareholders instigated court proceedings against the Department in relation to the payments under the various schemes, essentially contesting the outcome of the Keelderry commonage inspections.All of these court cases have either been settled or withdrawn by the applicants. The legal basis and the definition of an eligible hectare changed in 2015 as the scheme changed from the single payment scheme to the basic payment scheme.

Following legal advice, the Department conducted an inspection of the lands in mid to late 2017. The inspection found that more than 90% of the area was eligible under the basic payment scheme rules. The result was applied to all shareholder applications from 2015 onwards. None of the original shareholders sought a review of the inspection results. Subsequently, the basic payment scheme applications of the Keelderry claimants from 2015 onwards were recalculated, considering these findings, and any moneys outstanding were reimbursed.

The Department is satisfied, from my understanding, that there are no further moneys owed to the applicants under those circumstances. The Senator can appreciate that I am bringing this response to him on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. If he has any further contributions to make I will, of course, bring them back to the Minister.