Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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436. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the date on which in 2016 farmers were randomly selected for administrative checks or remote sensing inspections by his Department; if selected farmers were informed that their ANC and SFP payments would be delayed in advance of the date the Department commenced making payments to farmers; if not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33464/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Under EU Regulations, all Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) Scheme applications are subject to robust administrative checks prior to payment. The main element of the administrative check is an area assessment. This is achieved by using the Land Parcel Identification System which currently records some 1 million individual land parcels.

The work of my Department in this critical area must meet demanding EU and national audit requirements. Only valid applications under the BPS and ANC that fully comply with the requirements of the EU legislation are paid. Consequently, all applications under the schemes are subject to administrative checks. In 2016 these administrative checks commenced on 31st May when on-line applications were subject to preliminary checks to identify in particular over-claims and dual claims. An overall  validation process was then carried out on all applications once the data capture of 31,000 paper applications was completed.

Cases that did not pass the validation process went into error and cannot be paid until the error concerned is resolved. These errors include over-claims, dual claims and incomplete application forms. My Department entered into correspondence, mainly through the issuing of query letters to farmers, in order to resolve these error cases.

The selection of cases for on-the-spot-checks, either by means of ground or remote sensing inspection, is governed by EU regulations. All cases to be selected for inspection must be eligible beneficiaries under the various area-based schemes. Therefore the selection of cases for inspection, while commencing after the closing date for receipt of applications, i.e. 15 May for the 2016 Scheme year, is an on-going process so as to ensure this specific regulatory requirement is adhered to.

The process of a remote sensing inspection involves the comprehensive review of a range of satellite imagery received at various stages during the year to ensure that the actual claimed area in the application form corresponds to the area farmed by the applicant, that the different crop types are as claimed, and that ineligible land or features are not included for payment purposes. The EU regulations prescribe that for on-the-spot checks involving land eligibility, any notice of an inspection must be strictly limited to the minimum period necessary and must not exceed 14 days. As the commencement of a remote sensing inspection is dependent on the receipt of a range of satellite imagery throughout the year it is not possible to give a definitive notice date. Furthermore, it is not possible to notify an applicant of errors on their case until such time as the inspection process is fully completed, given the phased process of a remote sensing inspection.

Payments under the 2016 Basic Payment Scheme commenced on 17 October, which is the earliest date allowed under the EU legislation. In addition, following discussions with the EU Commission I confirmed that the level of the advance payment under this scheme would be set at 70% for 2016, rather than 50% as provided for in the EU legislation.

To date payments in excess of €770m have issued to over 117,000 applicants under the Basic Payment Scheme.  A further €183m has issued to some 84,500 applicants under the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme.

My Department is prioritising the processing of all outstanding cases subject to administrative checks or inspection and cases continue to be finalised to payment stage on a daily basis. Regular payment runs are being made for both the BPS and ANC to ensure prompt payment of fully processed cases.