Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he has considered correspondence sent by this Deputy to his Department in relation to a community group (details supplied); when this Deputy may expect to receive an answer to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47835/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Rural Development Programme (RDP) is governed by EU regulations and is subject to the rigorous audit and verification requirements. My Department is charged with ensuring that there is no misappropriation of funds and that all expenditure under the RDP is in line with the regulations as set out by the European Commission.

In this regard a robust system is in place to ensure that payments are made to promoters as soon as all the relevant checks have been carried out. During a regulatory inspection check of the project in question by the Inspection Services Division (ISD) of my Department, certain issues arose and were queried. It is my understanding that the findings of the inspection are currently under appeal with my Department; therefore it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on this project at this stage. However, once a final decision has been reached, a response will issue immediately to the correspondence in question.