Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

203. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine with regard to farmers who are being paid AEOS 3 payments and who joined up over 12 months ago, the reason the 2013 payments of €4,000 in total is not being paid until March 2014 and at that only 75% is first paid and the remaining 25% afterwards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3356/14]

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

Area-based schemes under the Rural Development Programme, 2007-13, are subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications, including cross checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, to be completed before payments can issue. These rigorous procedures, together with on-farm inspections, apply to a number of scheme payments including the Agri-environment Options Scheme (AEOS), and are necessary to ensure that applications meet the scheme conditions and cross-compliance requirements.

These checks are currently underway and must be completed before payments commence. In line with the governing Regulations, payments issue in two tranches, 75% payment and 25% payment. It is anticipated that 75% payment will commence in March, 2014 with the balancing 25% payment issuing shortly thereafter.