Written answers

Thursday, 26 February 2009

Department of Agriculture and Food

Rural Environment Protection Scheme

5:00 pm

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 190: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the reason checking of a scheme (details supplied) has been changed in view of the delays it is causing. [8094/09]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The arrangements for REPS 4 are derived from new EU Regulations governing the current rural development programming period. The provisions of these Regulations are different in significant respects from those governing the previous period. In addition, and notwithstanding the fact that no such criticisms had been voiced during numerous previous audits, auditors from both the European Commission and the European Court of Auditors commented adversely in early 2008 on a number of aspects of my Department's procedures for processing REPS applications.

In the light of the provisions of the new Regulations and the auditors' comments, it was necessary to make significant changes to my Department's procedures. In particular, it was necessary to develop systems for exhaustive checks on all applications including farm plans. Under the new Regulations, the first part of each year's payment, which is 75%, can be made only when all administrative checks on all 2008 applications for REPS 4 and the Single Payment Scheme are completed. These include checks on areas and on the plan details.

Many REPS 4 plans have been prepared using eREPS, the electronic planning system approved and funded by my Department. The information on these plans is in computerised format and it was necessary to develop an appropriate computer based control system for checking these plans. This was a lengthy process and the system was only available from late autumn. However a substantial minority of plans submitted were not prepared using eREPS. Administrative checks on these have to be done manually and are extremely time-consuming. An effect of industrial action in my Department's local offices last year was that this process was delayed. In these circumstances my Department sought some flexibility from the European Commission which would have allowed payment of those REPS 4 cases which had been fully cleared, but the Commission were not prepared to allow this. The first payments for 2008 REPS 4 applications issued in the last week of January to those whose applications required no correction following the administrative checks. Further payments continue to be made as applications are cleared.

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