Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline specifically the penalty being imposed by his Department on a person (details supplied) in County Cork arising from an alleged non-compliance with single farm payment regulations; if he will quantify the exact financial penalty being imposed; the amount of this that has been recouped to date; the impact that it has on various entitlements including REP scheme, suckler cow, and disadvantaged area payment; if an administrative penalty is also being imposed in this case; and if in view of the scale of the penalty involved his Department is open to considering a reduced fine or easy payment system in this case [14176/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In order to comply with EU requirements, the application was one of a number selected for inspection. This inspection resulted in findings of an over-declaration in area of over 50% under the Single Payment Scheme, which, under the terms and conditions of the Scheme, resulted in no payment being due. The amount of this payment would have been €6,016.05. In addition, due to the level of the over-declaration found, an administrative fine of €2,508.14 must be offset against any EU payments due to the applicant during the course of the next three calendar years, i.e. 2013 to 2015, with any outstanding balance at the end of this three year period being cancelled. Recoupment of monies resulting from the application of administrative fines is governed by EU legislation and my Department cannot deviate from these requirements.

As regards the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, the inspection findings resulted in an over-declaration in area of 24.04%, which under the terms and conditions of the scheme resulted in no payment being due. The amount of this payment would have been €3,400.85.

In relation to the Grassland Sheep Scheme, the over-declaration in area did not result in the application of a reduction in payment or an administrative fine. Furthermore, as the Suckler Welfare Scheme is not an area-based scheme, the inspection findings have no impact.

The applicant was advised, by letter dated 18th January 2013, of the outcome of a review of the original inspection findings, which was to uphold the original decision. The applicant was also advised of the right to appeal the outcome of the review to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office, within 3 months of the date of the review letter. To date the applicant has not initiated this appeal process.

The person named commenced REPS 4 in June 2008 and received payments for the first four years of their contract.

REPS 4 is a measure under the current 2007-13 Rural Development Programme and is subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications to be completed before any payments can issue. Following the administrative check, an area discrepancy was discovered between the Single Farm Payment Scheme application for 2012 and the REPS Agri-Environmental Plan which has resulted in the need for further clarification. This issue is currently being investigated with the intention of an early resolution.