Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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112. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that all commonage land parcel identification system reviews, from 2009 to date in 2015, have been carried out in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner, with specific regard to notice and the provision of reports to the affected applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9629/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department initiated a LPIS Review of commonage land in 2009. The objective of this Review was to confirm that the commonage land declared by applicants under the Direct Aid Schemes was eligible for payment. It is recalled that over €1.5 billion is paid annually in Ireland to farmers under the EU funded or partially funded Direct Aid Schemes. The Review involved an assessment of the eligible area of each commonage parcel using ortho-imagery from the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) database. The objective was to ensure that payments under the EU funded Direct Payment Schemes, under which in excess of €1.5 billion is paid annually to farmers in Ireland, are made on land that is eligible for payment.

As part of the Review, ineligible areas such as rocks, scrub, roads, forests, lakes and other features were excluded from the eligible area. It is also necessary to exclude areas where no agricultural activity is carried out. The outcome of this Review was communicated to farmers where reductions were made to individual commonages. In the majority of cases, the reductions had no impact on payments made under the Single Payment Scheme. There were a number of reasons for this, which includes the following:

-Many farmers acted in a prudent manner and declared a lesser area than their share of the commonage, which meant that the claimed area was still less than the share of the reduced commonage area.

-Some farmers declared more land than the number of payment entitlements held.

-It was possible up until 31 December 2009 to re-calculate the number and value of entitlements held by farmers where the eligible area of a commonage was reduced. Following amendments to the EU Regulations, it is no longer possible to re-calculate entitlements in such cases.

In accordance with EU Regulations, the assessment of commonages continues to ensure that ineligible areas or areas with no farming activity are not paid on under the Direct Payment Schemes. The relevant farmers are informed of the findings of these assessments.