Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 375: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details on the number of farmers in the north Tipperary area affected by the ongoing digitisation of maps, which is consequently holding up farm payments; the steps being taken to alleviate this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31783/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There are no delays in payments to farmers under either the Single Farm Payment Scheme or the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. With regard to DAS, payments commenced on target, on 22 September, while the 50% advance payments of the SFP started issuing, on schedule, on 17 October.

In the case of the SFP, the earliest payment date under the governing EU rules is 1 December, while in respect of DAS there is no regulatory payment date – however, it is generally recognised and indeed acknowledged in the Farmers' Charter, that a payment target of late September of the year in question is the most realistic. In the case of the Single Farm Payment, earlier this year I successfully sought the approval of the Commissioner to have advance payments made as and from 17 October. This is the earliest possible legal date for making payments, it being the start of the new EU financial year.

Suggestions have been made that the necessity to re-digitise farmers' maps is leading to unnecessary delays, resulting in payments being made later than would otherwise be the case. I can assure all concerned of my commitment to allocating such resources as is necessary to ensure that the essential digitisation of applicants' maps onto the Department's Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS). I must emphasise that any failings or shortcomings in LPIS would leave the Department open to the very real risk of significant fines. I am not prepared to take such a risk, nor will I compromise the value of direct payments to Irish farmers. Furthermore, sight should not be lost of the fact that the changes which have been recorded onto LPIS in very significant numbers, both throughout last year and again this year, are necessitated by the need to have all ineligible areas mapped; simply put, the position on the ground in any given farm must be accurately reflected on LPIS.

The following tabular statements show the present payments position under both schemes, at both National level and in respect of Tipperary applicants: