Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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537. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will ensure the immediate payment of all outstanding GLAS, AEOS and TAMS payments and an immediate review of the bureaucratic critical payment measures introduced with a view to simplifying the procedures for all. [21620/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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GLAS, AEOS and TAMS are approved and co-funded by the European Union and specific EU regulatory requirements must be complied with in processing payments under the scheme. Failure to comply with these requirements would impact negatively on the funding available through disallowances being imposed on Ireland.

GLAS payments continue to issue with 92% of payments issued to date.

The TAMS II online payment claims system has been available for the submission of payment claims since July 2016. The online system is set up to be as user friendly as possible with a series of validations in place to prompt the user to submit the required documentation. The payment claims submitted are being processed on an ongoing basis.

In respect of AEOS a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System must take place. As 2016 is the final scheme year of payment for the AEOS 2 Scheme, re-checks on payments made for all scheme years must be completed before final payment can be processed. This work is on-going and payments for valid checked files are and will continue to be released on a weekly basis.

A number of payments under all three schemes also continue to be held up due to incomplete documentation and all participants are reminded to respond to any correspondence and submit any outstanding documentation as soon as possible to facilitate payment.