Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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75. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when agri-environment options scheme payments for 2014 will issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44508/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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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.

All checks are now nearing completion and AEOS payments in respect of the 2014 scheme year will commence shortly.