Vol. 542 No. 5
154 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the outcome of the investigations held by his Department into allegations of fraudulent claims for ewe premiums; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25118/01]
The position is that as a result of discrepancies found in the Cooley Peninsula during the FMD cull of sheep, my Department put in place additional controls under the 2001 ewe premium scheme. These controls involved documentary and other checks which were conducted on the spot or by administrative means. In conducting these controls my Department paid particular attention to producers selected for on-farm inspection under the 2001 scheme but where the inspection could not be carried out because of FMD restrictions, pro ducers residing with a 10km radius of the Border and producers who moved sheep to slaughter under permit issued by Teagasc in the period from 6 March to 7 April when the retention period under the 2001 ewe premium scheme ended.
While most of these control measures have now been completed there are a number of cases where investigations are still ongoing or where individual applicants are disputing the results of the control measures. I am not, therefore, in a position to give the final outcome of the exercise. My Department will be conducting an in-depth analysis of the results of these controls later this year with a view to establishing the overall level of discrepancies found. I point out, however that payment of the first instalment of the 2001 ewe premium issued in July last and to date some 94% of applicants have received a payment. The total amount paid under the first instalment is £27.5 million. Payment of the second instalment was made last week when over £10 million was paid to 93% of applicants bringing total payments under the 2001 ewe premium scheme to £37.5 million.
Question No. 155 answered with Question No. 113.
