Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 227: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when forestry premium in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork will be awarded; and the reason for the delay. [22518/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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My officials have now received satisfactory clarification from the Revenue Commissioners on this matter. Processing of the payment will now take place and it will issue to the applicant in the coming days.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 228: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food his plans to speed up the payment of REP schemes to farmers once their applications are submitted; the length of time it takes on average for a REP scheme payment to issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22528/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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REPS 3 participants were paid for a twelve months period in advance at each anniversary of the start of their contract. Almost all of the final-year payments to participants in REPS 3, the last version of the scheme to which this payment arrangement applies, have now issued.

Participants in REPS 4 are paid in respect of each calendar year rather than for each twelve-month contract period. EU Regulations allow for payment of 75% once administrative checks on all participants have been completed and payment of the remaining 25% when all on-the-spot inspections for the year have been carried out. The administrative checks are comprehensive in nature and are in place to satisfy EU audit requirements. In a significant number of the applications received under the scheme, the administrative checks raised issues and queries which required further detailed examination. This led to delays in payment in 2009. Industrial relations issues in some of my Department's local offices also contributed to the delays.

A total of 29,376 applications were received for participation in REPS 4 for payment in 2009. So far, 24,023 applicants have received full payment for 2009 and work is continuing to process the remainder as quickly as possible. It is not possible to give an average length of the time it took for a REPS Scheme payment to issue in respect of 2009 as there were a number of different factors, and varying timescales, affecting the processing of each individual case.

I anticipate that REPS payments in 2010 will not be subject to the delays encountered in 2009. Inevitably, administrative checks for joining the REPS 4 Scheme are more exhaustive and detailed than subsequent administrative checks required to process ongoing applications for payment throughout the contract period. In this context, the application for payment for REPS 4 is the Single Farm Payment Form which is due by 15 May each year. In view of this, I am confident that the first payments for REPS 4 this year will begin to issue in early Autumn.