Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) in County Mayo will receive payment under the agri-environment options scheme. [5682/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has been investigating a number of cases involving the submission of invoices, which originated from one particular source, to verify and support their claims under the non-productive capital investment action of AEOS. It is known that in many cases the invoices submitted by participants, or their representatives, were for amounts greater than what was actually paid by the participants for the purchase of trees and hedgerow plants. Funding provided under the scheme comes partly from the EU and partly from the National Exchequer. There is a requirement and obligation to ensure that the expenditure claimed by scheme participants reflects the reality of what took place.

The person named was written to by the Department in September 2014 requesting the submission of alternative verifiable proof to support an invoice that was included in the claim for expenditure incurred. A number of letters have been exchanged since, including correspondence with the person’s Solicitor. However, no additional information has been received since the submission of the original payment claim.

A letter was issued to the person named on 25 January 2016 informing them of a determination made by the Department in the case which included the clawback of undue payments already made and the imposition of penalties as set out in the EU Regulations. The person named was also offered the opportunity to have this determination reviewed within the Department by submitting additional information if they wished. No reply was received to this letter.

A final decision letter was issued to the person named on 24 February 2016, again outlining the clawback of undue payments made and the penalties to be imposed. The applicant was afforded the opportunity to appeal this decision to the Agriculture Appeals Office within three months of the date of the review letter.

A further letter issued to the person named on 31 March 2016 giving details of the amount to be recouped. There are no payments due to be made in this case.