Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 433: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payment under the single farm payment scheme will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary. [32313/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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An application under the 2011 Single Payment Scheme was received from the person named on 4 May 2011, processing of which is now complete, thereby allowing payment to issue in the coming days.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 434: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payment on a REP scheme application will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary. [32325/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The person named commenced REPS 4 in February 2009 and received full payments for the first two years of their contract. This included a 75% payment of €4206.75 which issued on 21st April 2011 and a 25% balancing payment of €1402.25 which issued on 27th April 2011.

Arrangements are well advanced to issue payments in respect of 2011 and I expect that these payments will commence later this month or in early December.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Question 435: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of single farm payments currently outstanding in County Tipperary; the percentage of payments that remain outstanding throughout the country; the percentage of payments that remain outstanding in County Tipperary; when all final payments will be made; the reason for the delayed payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32348/11]

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