Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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228. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount Ireland has been fined by the European Union in 2012 and 2013 for overclaims for ineligible lands by farmers under the disadvantaged area scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37683/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware of the value of the EU funded Direct Payment Schemes to Ireland. Each year farmers in Ireland benefit from funding of over €1.5 billion under Schemes such as the Single Farm Payment Scheme (SPS) , the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, the Agri-environment Schemes, etc. This comprises the entire net income of many thousands of Irish farmers.

The European Commission has an obligation to ensure that Member States manage and use the EU funding granted to them in accordance with the very restrictive provisions governing the Schemes and general financial provisions. All of the lands declared by farmers must be eligible if these lands benefit from payment under one of more or these Schemes. 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, as part of the normal Accounting process, my Department was requested to undertake a complete review of the LPIS database. This on-going review is of major significance as the Commission is seeking to disallow €181m of funding to Ireland relating to payments over the five years to 2012. This potential disallowance is currently the subject of an Irish appeal to the EU Conciliation Body.