Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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1500. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a payment under the agricultural environment options scheme for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24385/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department has examined approximately 400 cases in which invoices were submitted from one particular supplier to verify and support claims under the non-productive capital investment action of AEOS. It is known that in some cases the invoices submitted were for amounts greater than those actually paid by the participants.

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. For that reason my Department wrote to participants requesting alternative proof that the amounts claimed were in fact the amounts paid.

The person named was written to on 10 June 2015 regarding the non-productive capital investment claim that they had submitted. This letter requested the submission of alternative, verifiable, proof to support one of the invoices that was included in the claim for expenditure incurred. A reply to this letter was received on 2 July 2015.

My Department officials carefully examined the application in light of this reply and the information gathered following the investigation of all cases. This examination indicated that the amount claimed had not been satisfactorily verified and that the amounts claimed were greater than the costs incurred for similar products in verified cases and the general price for such products at the time. A letter informing the applicant of this determination, and of the proposed penalty to be imposed was issued on 5 August 2016. This letter also offered the applicant an opportunity to have the determination reviewed within the Department and to submit additional information if they so wished not later than 26 August 2016. A request for a review was not received. A final decision letter issued to the person named on 7 September 2016.

The file will now be processed in the light of this decision and any payments due, following the imposition of the penalties set out in this decision, will be made shortly. The person named also has the option to appeal this decision to the Agriculture Appeals Office within three months of the date of the decision letter.