Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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273. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the dates the Bing Map Imagery was taken of each parcel under LPIS, land parcel identification vectors, in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5547/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The imagery used to review the lands declared by the person named was captured on 28 March 2012. Under the Terms & Conditions of the Direct Aid Schemes, which includes the Single Payment scheme, farmers are obliged to declare only eligible land when making their applications and 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, the Department is obliged under EU Regulations to ensure its accuracy.

Following consultation with the EU Commission, as part of the normal Accounting process, the 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 have given rise to penalties.

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 theindependently-chaired LPIS Appeals Committee.