Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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972. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications received under the 2015 national reserve and young farmers scheme; the number of these applicants which have received payments to date; when outstanding payments will be processed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9871/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department received just over 7,000 applications under the 2015 National Reserve and almost 9,000 applications under the 2015 Young Farmers Scheme. To date some 6,800 applications under the National Reserve and some 8,800 applications under the Young Farmers Scheme have been fully processed. In the case of outstanding applications, issues pertaining to registration of herd numbers, entitlement registration, agricultural educational qualifications and off-farm income details need to be verified for applicants. My Department is engaged in ongoing correspondence with applicants requesting additional documentation where this is required to facilitate final processing of their applications. A number of applicants have yet to respond and these cases cannot be fully processed until replies are received. Once the relevant documents have been received the outstanding applications will be finalised, with a view to payment issuing as soon as possible thereafter.