Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1170. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a farm payment appeal by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1000/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Under the Terms and Conditions of the Basic Payment Scheme, an applicant, as well as meeting the scheme criteria, must comply with EU regulatory requirements relating to Cross Compliance.The penalty applied under the 2017 Basic Payment Scheme relates to a breach of Cross Compliance requirements.

The Department’s records indicate that in 2016, the amount of nitrogen from livestock manure applied to land on the holding of the person named, (including that deposited by animals), was 192 kgs per hectare, which exceeded the limit of 170 kgs per hectare set down in the Nitrates Regulations for farmers without an approved derogation.

As similar breaches under the Nitrates Regulations had been identified within the previous three years, the regulatory provisions required that the rules on reoccurrence be applied and this resulted in a final penalty of 9% being applied against the 2017 Direct Schemes payments.

The person named was notified of this decision on 24th November 2017 and has sought a review of this decision. The matter is currently being examined by officials in my Department and the person named will be notified of the outcome on completion of this process.

In the event that the person named is dissatisfied with the outcome of this review, the decision can be appealed to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office, within 3 months.