Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications received under the disadvantaged areas scheme in 2012; the number paid to date; the number of applications rejected and the number yet to be decided broken down by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55977/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Payments under the 2012 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme commenced, on target, on 26 September and, to date, payments worth in excess of €193 million have issued to 87,322 farmers. Payments continue to issue twice weekly, as individual cases are confirmed eligible.

Nationally, 127 applications were subject to 100% penalty, as each was received after the final date for receipt of applications. The governing EU regulations require that a 1% cumulative penalty be applied for each working day a given application is received late, with a 100% penalty to be applied where the application is received more than 25 days late. The 127 cases in question were not covered by Force Majeure/exceptional circumstance provisions.

The details requested are set out in the table. However, with appeals ongoing and payments being made twice weekly, in order to maximise payments by year end, the picture continues to evolve.