Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 377: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if entitlements will be granted to a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary; her views on correspondence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19006/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The person named submitted an application for an allocation of entitlements from the 2006 Single Payment Scheme National Reserve under Category A. Category A caters for farmers who inherit, lease or receive land free of charge or for a nominal amount from a farmer who had retired or died by 16 May 2005 and where the land was leased out by the original owner during the reference period 2000 to 2002.

The person named has been deemed unsuccessful under this category as the land on which the application was based was leased out by the applicant during the reference period 2000 to 2002 and not by the original owner as required by the conditions governing the National Reserve. A letter outlining my Department's decision issued to the person named on 11 June 2007. The person named submitted an appeal against this decision on 27 June 2007 and also submitted new evidence in support of his appeal. The case was subsequently reviewed but it was considered that the new evidence submitted did not provide grounds for a change to the original decision.

This case has now been forwarded to the Independent Single Payments Appeals Committee who will carry out a full review of the case. The Independent Single Payments Appeals Committee will correspond directly with the person named following the outcome of their review.

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 378: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food further to Parliamentary Question No. 780 of 24 April 2007, when a decision will be made on the review of the 2006 single payment scheme for a person (details supplied) in County Sligo; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19019/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that an application under the Single Payment Scheme/ Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on 15 May 2006. As part of the control procedures, the application was randomly selected for a Satellite Inspection. The results of the Satellite Inspection indicated that there was a discrepancy in the area claimed by the applicant. As a result of this discrepancy it was necessary to issue a request for a Ground Eligibility Inspection to be completed.

The ground eligibility inspection was undertaken on 14 November 2006. During the course of the inspection discrepancies were found with a number of parcels. As a result of these discrepancies the claimed area of 35.65ha was reduced to 25.58ha. The person named was informed of these findings on 6 December 2006. If the total Standard area found is not sufficient to support the number of entitlements held the penalties will be applied as per Article 50/51/53 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 796/2004 and per the Terms and Conditions of the scheme. In this case the number of entitlements held by the person named is 55.8. As the difference between the area declared and the area found is more than 20%, under EU Regulations, no payment will issue.

The person named requested a review of this decision on 9 February 2007. The reviewer concluded that the declaration of a forestry plot on the application was a genuine error and agreed to remove the plot from the application. This reduced the difference between the area declared and the area found to 9.38% which, under EU Regulations, resulted in the difference being doubled and a total area of 20.94 Ha being put forward to payment. This payment is currently being processed and will issue shortly.

The person named was informed of this decision on 27 April 2007 and of his right to appeal the decision to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office. To date, no appeal has been lodged.