Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers currently in rural environment protection scheme 4 and agri-environment option scheme 1 and agri-environment option scheme 2; the number that have received their 2012 payments to date; the reason for the delay in paying farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6984/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The table below displays the number of active participants in both the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) 4 and Agri-Environment Options Schemes (AEOS) 1 and 2 and the numbers in each scheme that have received payment for the 2012 scheme year.

Under the EU Regulations governing the scheme and other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check of all applications, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must be completed before any payment can issue.

Successive EU audits have made it absolutely clear that compliance with the Regulations must be strictly adhered to and that all administrative checks must be passed and eligibility conditions met before payment issues. As a result, my Department is obliged to ensure that individual payments will not issue until all aspects of a farmer’s application are in order, all outstanding documentation provided and all queries resolved.

Outstanding 2012 payments under both REPS and AEOS are largely due to unresolved queries associated with applications and in most instances officials in my Department will have contacted the applicants concerned with the intention of issuing payment as soon as possible. There is a specific issue delaying payments under AEOS 2 related to non productive capital investments. In order to facilitate the 2012 payment applicants must have submitted a valid claim form if they have selected a non-productive capital investment action. However a significant number of applicants have either not submitted a claim form or have outstanding queries associated with submitted forms. Officials in my Department have been in contact with all these farmers and are dealing with the responses received with the intention of clearing any backlog as soon as possible.

I am conscious of the importance of these payments to farmer’s incomes and my Department is making every effort to assist farmers in regularising their applications and claims for payment. Additional resources have been assigned to dealing with all outstanding queries and payments will continue to issue on an ongoing basis as outstanding issues are resolved.