John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 479: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food further to Parliamentary Question No. 1216 of 27 September 2006, if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the person (details supplied) has since opted out of the lease which her Department queried in relation to an artificially created holding and that the issue at present is the fact that they have less than 3 hectares of green land according to her Department; if her further attention has been drawn to the fact that they subsequently purchased 20 ewes and re-applied for a derogation from the three hectare rule on 31 July 2006, which was again rejected on 2 August 2006, without giving a reason; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31718/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The person named was refused entry to REPS on the grounds that his holding was artificially created in order to satisfy the conditions for REPS participation. Artificially creating a holding for this purpose is expressly prohibited in the terms and conditions of the scheme. The Department position was upheld on appeal to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office.

Subsequently, when deciding to refuse a request for a derogation, which sought to set aside REPS eligibility conditions, all aspects of the case, including those outlined in the question, were taken into consideration.