Vol. 536 No. 5
156 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the steps he will take to ensure that a REP scheme payment due to a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath for the final year of the plan, is paid to him immediately; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14754/01]
The person named lodged an appeal with my Department's REPS appeals committee against a penalty of 100% imposed on him for removal of a hedgerow.
The matter has been examined in detail by the REPS appeals committee, which decided that the penalty was correctly applied and must remain in place. In arriving at this decision, the appeals committee noted that the planning permission cited in the appeal required the removal of 15m of hedgerow on either side of an entrance. My Department's inspectors found, however, that 150m of hedgerow had been removed. Since this went far beyond what was required by the planning conditions, the penalty was upheld. The person named has been informed of the appeals committee's final decision.
