Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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324. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the number of payments under the rural environment protection scheme and the agri-environment options scheme made in 2015 to date; the number held up due to inspections and queries; when it is hoped that all outstanding payments will issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24981/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Both REPS4 and AEOS are measures under the 2007-13 Rural Development Programme and are subject to EU Regulations which require detailed administrative checks on all applications to be completed before any payments can issue. To date in 2015, a total amount of €24.72 million has been paid in respect of REPS4. A total of €23.35 million of this refers to the 2014 REPS4 Scheme Year, with the balance being in respect of earlier years. A total of 16,633 REPS4 participants have now received their 2014 payments, with 13,136 of these having been paid in the 2014 calendar year and a further 3,497 being paid in 2015.

There are a further 237 participants still to receive their REPS4 payments for the Scheme Year 2014. These cases are held for a number of reasons, including the finalisation of Department inspections. In the majority of these cases, Department personnel have been in contact with participants or their planners regarding issues or documentation required to finalise their applications. Once the outstanding documentation has been furnished from REPS participants, processing of the remaining cases will be completed as quickly as possible.

In relation to AEOS, a total amount of €27.57 million has been paid out to date in 2015. Payment on 1,206 files is currently deferred due to various queries and inspection issues. Payments will issue in all cases as soon as these outstanding queries and issues are resolved.