Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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638. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason penalties under the 2013 single payment scheme were assessed against a person (details supplied) in County Roscommon; if he will provide details of the penalties assessed against the person; if other penalties have been assessed against the person under other schemes and the schemes and scheme years these penalties refer to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23395/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The 2013 Single Farm Payment/Disadvantaged Areas’ Scheme application of the person named was selected for a ground eligibility inspection. This inspection identified discrepancies between the area declared and the area found, resulting in an over-declaration in area of greater than 3% of the area found under the Single Payment Scheme. Based on the Terms and Conditions of this scheme, this resulted in the 2013 payment being based on the found area having being reduced by double the difference between the area found and the area claimed, or the total entitlements held if lower. The claimed area of 19.77ha was reduced to a found area of 16.37ha. As the number of entitlements held was 17.09, the total area put forward for payment was 14.93ha and payment on this basis issued on 4 March 2014.

Under the Disadvantaged Areas’ Scheme the claimed area of 19.77ha was reduced to a found area of 16.37ha. As the difference between the area found and the area claimed was greater than 20%, under the terms and conditions of this scheme no payment was due in respect of 2013.

The person named was notified of this decision on 3 January 2014. The person named has appealed this decision and this request is currently being examined. The person named will be informed of the outcome as soon as it is available. In the event that the person named is dissatisfied with the outcome of the review, the decision can be appealed to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office, within 3 months.

The 2013 Rural Environment Protection Scheme application of the person named was selected for an inspection. This inspection identified discrepancies and as a result was given a penalty in the amount of €1,223.47 for non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the Scheme. The non-compliance with Scheme conditions included a 1% penalty for non-compliance with specific requirements under biodiversity undertaking measures (measure 4), a 25% penalty for non-compliance with bovines not being excluded from watercourses/waterbodies marked on the REPS plan map and a 1% penalty for non-compliance with specific measures under biodiversity measures (measure 3). Based on the Terms and Conditions of the scheme, this resulted in the 2013 REPS4 75% payment being reduced from €3,398.55 to €2,175.08. The person named was notified of this decision on 4 February 2014.