Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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337. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason his Department will not accept the verbal confirmation from the NPWS that works carried out by a farmer (details supplied) did not damage the special protection hen harrier area; if the cross compliance penalty applied in respect of this damage will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19040/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Under the Terms and Conditions of the Basic Payment Scheme and other EU funded schemes an applicant, as well as meeting the scheme criteria, must also comply with EU regulatory requirements relating to Cross Compliance.

An inspection was carried out by my Department on 30th August 2016. The report of this inspection detailed breaches relating to the cross compliance requirements in respect of the Statutory Management Requirement (SMR) 2 on the Conservation of Wild Birds. This resulted in a 20% penalty being applied against the Direct Payments Schemes and other EU funded schemes, where applicable.

The breaches identified related to the removal of the peat/topsoil layer from a designated hen harrier site. Prior approval of the NPWS to undertake works on such a designated site is required and in this case no written confirmation that such prior approval had issued was provided to my Department. This written confirmation of prior approval is an essential record in determining whether or not a breach of the requirements has occurred and is also necessary to meet EU audit requirements.

The person named was notified of the decision on the breach on 20th November 2016 and of their right to seek a review of the findings. A review was requested, the outcome of which was to up-hold the original inspection findings. A letter detailing this outcome issued to the person named on 8th March 2018.

If the person named is dissatisfied with this outcome the decision can be appealed to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office, within 3 months. I understand that to date no such appeal has been lodged with that office.