This case was reviewed in my Department and the outcome of that review was communicated to the person named on 1 October 2001. The decision was appealed and a more senior official reviewed the case again, but it was concluded that there were no grounds to amend the original decision.
There is an onus on REPS participants to ensure that they make their annual application for payment within the prescribed timeframe. The application for payment in this case should have been received by 31 October 2000 to avoid penalty for late application. It was not received until August 2001, over nine months later. While the scheme provides for certain extreme circumstances such as long-term illness or incapacity to be accepted as force majeure excusing late application, what the person named has put forward as mitigating circumstances do not in the view of my Department constitute sufficient grounds.