Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 14: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the reason there is continuing delay in the making of REP scheme payments; when all outstanding payments will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11804/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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To meet the requirements of EU regulations, applications for REPS payments have to go through an exhaustive series of administrative checks before payment can be released. In a significant number of cases, these checks raised issues and queries which required further detailed examination. My officials are working to resolve these as quickly as possible. Many of these cases will, however, require the applicants' planners to amend the farm plans that were submitted originally. The persons concerned have been made aware of the position and the applications will be further processed without delay on receipt of amended plans. In a small number of local offices, the processing of payments has been delayed by staffing issues arising from the moratorium on recruitment and promotions in the public service and I am attempting to resolve these difficulties. My objective remains to ensure that all outstanding claims are processed to payment stage as quickly as possible.