Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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85. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the penalty in monetary terms being applied to an application for payment under the 2014 rural environment protection scheme in respect of a person (details supplied). [21065/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The person named commenced REPS 4 in June 2009 and received payments for the full 5 years and 7 months of the REPS4 contract. His participation in the Scheme ended on 31 December 2014. REPS4 is a measure under the 2007-13 Rural Development Programme and is subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications to be completed before any payments can issue. The person named was entitled to a 2013 Scheme Year REPS4 payment in the amount of €6,521.15. This payment was due to be paid in 2 instalments, a 75% initial payment followed by the balance in a 25% payment. The initial 75% in the amount of €4,890.86 was due to be paid to the person named on 22 April 2014 but a penalty amount of €4,307.19 was deducted from that payment, meaning he received a net payment of €583.67. The 25% balance of the payment in the amount of €1,630.29 was paid in full to the person named on 2 May 2015.

The penalty amount deducted of €4,307.19 was imposed and deducted as a result of a Department inspection, which found a number of non-compliance issues with the terms and conditions of the Scheme. These non-compliance issues were notified to the person named on 15 April 2014 by letter from the Department’s local office.

As a result of an appeal and a review within the Department, the penalty amount was reduced by €948.83. This reduction in the penalty was notified to the person named on 22 May 2015 by letter from the Department’s local office. It is anticipated that the required repayment will be made to the person named within the next few days.