Written answers

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Single Payment Scheme Payments

Photo of Martin FerrisMartin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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230. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason single farm payment and REP scheme entitlements for a person (details supplied) were cut by 5% because they were unable to cut rushes due to weather conditions in February 2013 and therefore failed inspection. [24688/13]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In order to be eligible under the Single Payment Scheme and other area based schemes, an applicant must ensure that all agricultural land is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC). A Cross Compliance inspection relating to the Single Farm Payment was carried out on the holding concerned on 27 February 2013. When conducting inspections, my Department’s personnel take prevailing weather conditions into account. For example, where the practice is to cut rushes and it has not been possible to top them in the current year, inspectors will take a broader assessment including whether there is evidence that they have been cut in previous years.

During the course of this inspection, a parcel was identified where there was no evidence of grazing, cutting or topping having taken place for a number of years and rushes had become dominant as a result. Furthermore a second parcel of land was identified where severe poaching had occurred due to the out-wintering of cattle. As a result of these findings, a penalty of 5% has been recorded against the applicant’s 2013 Direct Payments. The applicant was notified on 3 April 2013. A request for a review of this decision has been received and is currently being examined. The applicant will be notified of the outcome of this review as soon as possible, which can, in turn, be appealed to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office within 3 months of the date of the review.

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. These checks have now been completed for 2012 and the Year 5 75% payment amounting to €5,400.82 issued for payment on 14 May 2013 less deductions of €2,269.22 for penalties/reductions for over-claims on land declared and non-compliance with the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme. The remaining Year 5 25% balancing payment amounting to €2,556.68 issued for payment on 20 May 2013.

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 can issue. If the person named is dissatisfied with the application of penalties in this instance, there is a “right of appeal” procedure to the Agriculture Appeals Office, Kilminchy Court, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. The appeal must be made within three months of the date of notification of the penalties.

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