Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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158. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the rationale whereby his Department seek the reimbursement of overpayment in afforestation instalment grants from the landowner in the instance where these moneys were initially paid to a third party; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38890/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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All afforestation grants are paid to enable an applicant to establish a forestry plantation and the applicant gains an asset as a result of these grants. The applicant employs a forestry company to do the establishment work and, as with any service provided, he/she must pay the company for the work completed. The plantation owner may pay the contractor directly or he/she may sign a mandate that requests my Department to redirect the grant(s) to the forestry company. It must be noted that the mandate is an agreement between the owner and the forestry company and my Department is not party to it; the mandate is merely an instruction to my Department to pay the owner’s grant on their behalf to the contractor.

An afforestation contract is between the applicant and my Department, and the contractor is not party to that contract. Therefore, any money paid and/or to be recouped under an afforestation contract is a matter between my Department and the applicant. Any contract that exists between a forestry company and a plantation owner is a matter between those parties and any matter arising under such a contract, such as for example planting fewer trees than there should be, is a matter for the owner and the forester to resolve. On this basis, if my Department must recoup an overpayment, the recoupment is sought from the scheme applicant who benefited from the payment and the resultant asset.