Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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444. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the appeals process relating to land eligibility; the number of cases heard to date by the independent chairman; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27375/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is bound, under EU Regulations, to maintain the accuracy the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) which underpins the direct payments. At the start of each year, my Department issues colour maps of all land parcels declared by farmers in the previous year together with a covering letter. In that letter, farmers are clearly informed of the need to carefully examine each map carefully and to identify and exclude from their application all unfarmed land, ineligible features such as buildings, farmyards, scrub, roadways, forests, lakes etc. included in the land parcels. There is, therefore, an onus on all farmers to ensure that the area of land declared by them as eligible for payment under the Direct Payment Schemes is accurate. They are also given the means to do so by making the ortho-photos available to them on an annual basis. These requirements are also made clear in the Terms and Conditions of the Schemes, which accompanies the pre-printed application form issued to all farmers.

In the letters which issue where ineligible areas have been identified, considerable detail regarding the issues and maps to advise of the particular over-claims, are provided, in addition to which farmers are also informed of the appeals process, should they disagree with my Department’s findings. The appeals process I have introduced is both robust and comprehensive; in the first instance, applicants are entitled to have their case reviewed by submitting their appeal on the form provided by my Department. If they are not satisfied with the outcome of the review, they can appeal their case to the independent-chaired Land Eligibility Appeals Committee.

To date, some 10,173 appeals have been received, of which 3,852 have been finalised. A total of 3,464 cases have been referred for verification visit, in order to establish the position on the ground. To date, 179 cases have been referred to the Appeals Committee for consideration; the number of cases being referred will increase, as the number of verification visits finalised increases.