Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

All CAP payments, including those made under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme are governed by EU regulations and are subject to rigorous audit and control by the European Commission.

In applying for the ANC scheme, applicants are requested to tick a box to confirm if they wish to apply for the scheme each year when submitting their Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application. It is an EU requirement that the application must be made online and that the applicant must make a declaration that they are applying for the scheme and that they will comply with the terms and conditions. 

If an applicant does not tick the box to apply for ANC initially and if they received payment under the scheme in the previous scheme year, they are presented with an additional pop-up warning  on screen under the heading “Do you wish to apply for ANC?”.

This warning advises that they had received ANC payment in previous scheme year and requests them to select from one of two options:

“I want to apply for ANC”

or

“I do not want to apply for ANC”.

The warnings and reminders are there to ensure the applicant is fully aware of the schemes he/she is or is not applying for. It should be noted that farmers may choose not to apply for the ANC scheme in any given year for a number of reasons. 

Experience at EU audit has shown it is clear that consideration of mistakes as “obvious errors” can only apply after an application is made by the farmer. The responsibility to apply for a scheme rests with the beneficiary and the applicant has 25 working days after the closing date to make a late application, where a sliding scale of reductions apply through that 25-day period. Once this period is past, no payment can issue. 

In very limited cases, late applications may be considered under specific Force Majeure/Exceptional Circumstance grounds. The obligation is on the beneficiary to notify in writing, to the Department, the occurrence of such an event. Appeals are considered on a case by case basis. Where farmers are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review process, they may submit a further appeal to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office.

Records of appeals received  in relation to not ticking the box to apply for the ANC scheme were recorded from the 2020 scheme year onwards. 

The below table shows the current position with regards to appeals received in relation to applicants not ticking the box to apply for the 2020 and the 2021 ANC scheme years.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1906. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there will be a new tranche of TAMS; and if so, if it will reflect the increase in prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20449/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Another full review of the reference costs in the TAMS scheme has recently been carried out by my Department. Reference costs have been increased with increases ranging from 5-15% across the investment items listed under TAMS. These changes have been implemented from the opening of Tranche 26 on 9th April 2022, this is in addition to increases of 5-20% on costings already introduced in July 2021. This is the third increase to be implemented in costs in the last 3 years.

Tranche 26 of TAMS closes on 1 July 2022. It is open to individual applicants to withdraw an application under the scheme prior to its approval  and submit a revised application, should they decide that they wish to avail of the increased reference costs from Tranche 26 onwards.