Vol. 474 No. 4
68 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the proportion of REP scheme participants who have been found not to have carried out the specified works within a year of receiving payment; the number of cases where penalties were imposed; the proposals, if any, he has to further improve compliance with the scheme's regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3170/97]
A system of compliance checks and penalties is in place for all participants in the REP scheme. To date, only 469 of the 6,600 approximately who have been checked have been found to have failed to comply in full with all of their undertakings within a year or more of receiving payment and penalties ranging from 5 per cent to 100 per cent of payment have been imposed. Of these some 90 are the subject of an appeal under the Department's appeals system. The most common level of penalty is 10 per cent.
I am satisfied that this control system is ensuring compliance with the scheme's regulations. This is evident from the results to date of the compliance checks, the level of which I will keep under review.
