Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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183. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the single farm payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31709/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I have received the correspondence in question and will reply directly to the person named. I am very cognisant of the challenges facing those farmers who farm lands are situated on the islands, in particular, the additional costs incurred in farming island lands. Mindful of this, I have decided to target specific support for island farmers via a new top-up to be introduced under the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) Scheme. This additional payment will commence in 2015 with the introduction of the ANC Scheme, which is currently known as the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. The proposed top-up rates are €150 per forage hectare where a farmer is an island resident and €75 per forage hectare where a farmer is not resident on an island and is actively farming the island lands. My Department is currently in the process of identifying and investigating all islands situated both offshore and inland on lakes and rivers, and determining the eligibility of each. Following initial analysis, it has been considered that islands connected to the main land by permanent access route will not incur the same costs as farmers living and farming on the islands and therefore will not be eligible. These proposals weresubmitted to the Commission on 3^rdJuly 2014, as part of the overall Rural Development Programme, with approval anticipated later this year.It is opportune, however, to take the opportunity to outline the position regarding the ongoing review of the data contained on my Department’s Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) database.

Under the Terms & Conditions of the Direct Aid Schemes, farmers are obliged to declare only eligible land when making their applications and are required to exclude ineligible features such as roads, buildings, farmyards, dense scrub, etc. These claims are then recorded on the Department’s Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS). Given the importance of the LPIS database in underpinning direct aid payments worth in excess of €1.5 billion annually, my Department is obliged under EU Regulations to ensure its accuracy.

Following consultation with the EU Commission in 2013 , as part of the normal Accounting process, my Department was requested to undertake a complete review of the LPIS database. This has resulted in the necessity to adjust parcels of a significant number of applicants, where it was established that some ineligible features had been included. In certain circumstances these adjustments are giving rise to establishments of over-payments.

The LPIS Review process initiated by my Department consisted of a review of all of the eligible land parcels in the LPIS database, which was declared by farmers under the 2013 Single Payment Scheme, the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme and other Direct Payment Schemes. In total, the Review covered in excess of 132,000 applicants and the land parcels declared by them as eligible for payment under one of more of the above-mentioned Schemes.

A comprehensive review and appeals process has been implemented to ensure that the cases of individual farmers are fully scrutinised. In the first instance, a farmer, who finds himself or herself in this position, can seek a review of the original decision by Department officials. If they are not happy with the outcome of the review, they can submit an appeal to the Independent LPIS Appeals Committee, chaired by Mr Padraig Gibbons. I would encourage any farmer , who considers that the level of deductions made in his or her case to be invalid, to submit an application for a review of the decision if he or she has not already done so.