Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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282. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of land parcel identification system appeals received by his Department in total; the number decided and the number remaining to be determined; when it is expected that the remaining appeals will be decided; if farmers are receiving payments in the meantime of 2013 and 2014 on the areas determined by the LPIS review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46215/14]

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 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. 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. Where letters issue as a result of ineligible areas having been identified, considerable detail regarding the issues, and maps to advise of the particular over-claims, are provided. Where possible, payments continue to issue. In addition, farmers are also informed of the appeals process, should they disagree with the findings of my Department. 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 to my Department. If they are not satisfied with the outcome of that review, they can appeal their case to the independent-chaired Land Eligibility Appeals Committee.

To date, some 10,728 appeals have been received, of which 8,448 have been finalised or are in the final stages of processing. In addition, 2,280 cases are in the process of either ground verification visits or administrative validation. To date, 359 cases were referred to the Land Eligibility Appeals Committee for consideration. These cases were reviewed by the Appeals Committee and decisions have been advised to 319 of the applicants.