Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a penalty applied to an area based payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry will be reviewed. [18735/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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As you may be aware my Department is currently examining land parcels declared under the Single Payment Scheme and other area-based Direct Payment Schemes. As part of this review an ineligible area was identified and removed from a number of parcels declared by the person named. In order to clarify the position regarding the area of ineligible features my Department arranged for a ground verification check to be undertaken. This check confirmed the 2013 area over-declaration as 32.59 % in the case of both the Single Farm Payment and the Disadvantaged Area Schemes. As 32.59 % is greater than 20% of the newly established eligible area in respect of both Schemes, regretfully, no payment is due to the person named under the 2013 Single Payment and Disadvantaged Are a Schemes. The person named received a payment on 16 October 2013 under the 2013 Single Farm Payment Scheme and also 20 September 2013 under the 2013 Disadvantaged Area Scheme, which are deemed overpaid and will be netted-off future payments made by my Department.

The person named was notified of the outcome of this review in writing on 21 May 2014 and informed of his right to submit an appeal to the LPIS Appeals Committee. By letter dated 23 June 2014, the person named opted to avail of his right to appeal to the independently-chaired LPIS Appeal Committee. Following due consideration, the LPIS Appeal Committee rejected his appeal, and notified him of the decision on 30 October 2014, in which they outlined his right to appeal to the Office of the Ombudsman. Following consultation with the Office of the Ombudsman, my Department arranged for a further verification visit to be carried out, which did not result in a positive outcome for the person named, as the overall area remained unchanged. The person named was notified in writing of the outcome of this review on 30 April 2015.