John Ellis (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Question 247: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the revenues her Department has raised by means of financial penalties for breaches of farming regulations. [16553/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is obliged, under the relevant EU regulations, to apply penalties where scheme conditions are breached and, in general, to refund those amounts to the EU Commission. In its annual EAGGF guarantee account for 2004, my Department reported a total of €3,774,777.48 in penalties. Of this, €27,269.69 related to market supports, with the remainder relating to premia paid directly to farmers. This compares to more than €1.3 billion in guarantee funded payments to farmers in 2004.