Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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414. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider making the 70% advance payment to farmers on the basic payment scheme and the greening to those whose payments are delayed due to digitisation, partnerships and inspection cases and so on as this will greatly assist farmers in the current income crisis at farm level and any penalties found can be deducted from the balance payment of 30%. [33348/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to confirm that advance payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) commenced in Ireland on 17 October 2016 in respect of applicants whose applications are fully processed and who have no outstanding errors.  This is the earliest that payments can commence under the governing EU Regulations. The level of advance payment was set at 70% for 2016 rather than the 50% provided for in the EU legislation.

To date payments in excess of €768m have issued to over 116,500 applicants.  Regular payment runs are being made in respect of all applicants whose applications are fully processed and who have no outstanding errors.  There are currently approximately 11,000 applicants with an allocation of entitlements where further processing is required.

Balancing payments of 30% are scheduled to commence on 1st December.

It should also be noted that the processing of the 2016 applications under the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme is currently in progress. To date payments of some €183m have issued to some 84,500 applicants. Regular payment runs are being made in respect of all applicants whose applications are fully processed and who have no outstanding errors.

This brings the total amount paid to farmers over the past ten weeks to over €950 million.

The processing of applications under the Basic Payment Scheme is a complex administrative task and one that remains a top priority for my Department.

The Basic Payment Scheme is fully funded by the European Union and the relevant Competent Authorities in each Member State are obliged to ensure that the requirements of the governing EU Regulations are observed and that only valid applications that fully comply with the requirements are paid. The administration of the Scheme in each Member State is subjected to close scrutiny by officials of the EU Commission and the EU Court of Auditors to ensure that the regulatory requirements are met and that the Schemes are applied in a uniform manner across the European Union.

 All applications under the Scheme are subject to administrative checks, with a further 5% also subject to land eligibility inspections in compliance with EU legislation.

Where issues preventing payment are identified contact is immediately made with the applicant concerned in order to resolve the query. Work is well under way in resolving the queries that have arisen following these checks and farmers are being contacted as necessary.

I am keenly aware that the advance payment of the BPS is a vital support to farmers across sectors in maximising cash flow and my Department will continue to prioritise the processing of all outstanding cases.