Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Fisheries and Food if he will give assurances to this house that agri environmental options scheme payments due from 2010 and AEOS and REP scheme four payments for 2011 will be paid in 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17620/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am acutely aware scheme payments constitute an important part of cash flow and farm income that farmers are anxious to know when they will receive their payments. I wish to assure farmers that my objective is to ensure that all outstanding claims are processed to payment stage as quickly as possible without any undue delays.

All area based scheme payments are subject to exhaustive checks which are required under EU Regulations, must be carried out to the highest possible standard before payments can issue.

Insofar as REPS is concerned, payments in respect of 2010 REPS 4 commenced on 15th December 2010, and over 14,585 applicants received payment before the end of 2010. Payments continue to issue on a weekly basis. To date, out of 30,254 farmers who are due payments, 26,477 have been paid in full. The majority of outstanding payments have issues which need to be examined or resolved and these are being dealt with on an ongoing basis by my officials. A small number of farmers are awaiting their balancing payment of 25%, having already received 75%, because they have incurred breaches of the Scheme. The balancing payment cannot be paid until the appropriate penalties have been applied and work to complete this process is proceeding.

Work to facilitate REPS 4 payments for 2011 is well underway. All those who pass the administrative checks without issue will have their payment released in the first tranche of payments. It is my intention that REPS 4 payments for 2011 will commence in October and that all payments will issue as quickly as possible thereafter subject to compliance with the scheme conditions.

As regards AEOS, some 8,500 farmers who were approved for participation in AEOS 1 are due payment in respect of 2010. Initial computerised checks carried out on information contained in each application revealed a high incidence of errors in the information provided and these errors had to be rectified before the detailed administrative checks could commence and payment could issue. I have given the processing of payments a high priority and I expect that AEOS payments in respect of the first year will commence in August. Payments in respect of year two will commence in October.

I re-opened AEOS this year, in the face of very difficult budgetary circumstances. The some 7,000 applications received for AEOS 2 are currently being processed by my officials and those which prove eligible will be receiving offers of acceptance into the Scheme once all applications have been assessed. These applications will then be subject to the same rigorous administrative checks mentioned already, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, and the outcome of those checks will determine when approvals issues and payments can commence.

It is my intention that, for the future, all REPS and AEOS payments will issue as expeditiously as possible within the constraints of passing all administrative checks and meeting all EU requirements.