Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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360. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the precise statutory basis for the land parcel identification system appeals committee; the way he has delegated powers to this committee; the procedures this committee follows and the location where such information can be accessed; his views that applicants should be entitled to this information, prior to his Department offering such a process; if he will publish the results and decisions of the committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15470/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In general, farmers who submit applications under the Direct Payment Scheme and many other measures and who are not satisfied with a decision made by my Department in the processing of the application can appeal to the Agricultural Appeals Office. In some instances where the volume of appeals submitted is extremely high, it is necessary to provide for an alternative appeals mechanism to process these in an efficient manner. This was the case in respect of appeals submitted under the 2013 LPIS Review. I, therefore, established the Independent LPIS Appeals Committee to deal with such appeals. This Committee comprises of an independent Chairman and Appeals Offices from the Agriculture Appeals Office . The Schedule to the Agriculture Appeals Act, 2001 was amended by the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2013 (SI No. 10 of 2013) to exclude the Land Parcel Identification System Review 2013 (LPIS Review 2013) cases. Where persons were dissatisfied with a decision affecting them under the 2013 Review of Eligibility of Land parcels, they were entitled in the first instance, to have the decision reviewed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. However, if applicants were not satisfied with the outcome of the review, they could appeal that decision to the LPIS Appeals Committee. If they continued to be dissatisfied after the Appeals Committee had reviewed their case, they can refer the matter to the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Terms of Reference of the Appeals Committee is available on the website of the Agriculture Appeals Office. Each appeal case is decided on its own individual merits and an individual recommendation issues from the Committee to my Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There are no plans to publish individual recommendations but, however, overall statistics will be included in the Agriculture Appeals Office Annual Report, which will be published later this year.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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361. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 142 of 26 March 2015, if he is satisfied that there is no discrimination where verification visits and-or land parcel verifications are notified to farmers of privately owned lands, but commonage farmers are not notified in advance of such verification visits and-or land parcel verifications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15471/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There is no discrimination in relation to the inspection of commonage and private land. In general, inspections of commonage land are undertaken as part of the annual round of eligibility inspections of the lands declared, including commonages, by applicants under direct Payment Schemes or as part of a Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) Review. If it forms part of an eligibility inspection, the applicant involved is informed of the inspection in the normal manner. Such inspections are carried out on the entire farm including any commonage areas declared. A LPIS Review involves the assessment of the latest ortho-imagery available of land s parcels, on the Land Parcel Identification System, which are declared by farmers in their applications for payment under the Direct Payment Schemes. The objective of the assessment is to identify and exclude any ineligible areas or features from the land parcels declared by farmers in their applications for payment under the Direct Payment Schemes. The assessment is normally undertaken using the latest ortho-imagery available only but in some instances it is necessary to carry-out a follow-up verification visit on the ground to confirm the findings of the assessment. Such verification visits may relate to one or more parcels on a farm, irrespective of whether or not commonage land has been declared but are not generally carried out on the entire farm. The applicants are not notified of these verification visits but are notified of the findings of the verification checks.