Vol. 555 No. 4
71 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason a person (details supplied) in County Clare has been fined 100% penalty on a REP scheme; and if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the likely cause of the 100% fine penalty was that the applicant filled an open drain with stone and pipe in the interest of good farming practice. [18765/02]
In the course of inspections carried out by my Department in October 2000 and January 2001, it was noted that a field boundary on the holding of the person named had been removed. This was a breach of the conditions of REPS and accordingly the specified penalty of 100% was imposed. To offset the penalty, my Department withheld his fourth year REPS payment. The person named appealed the penalty unsuccessfully to my Department's local office and he then appealed it to the national REPS appeals committee. The appeals committee examined the matter and decided that the penalty had been correctly applied and that it should remain in place. The scheme conditions state that any field boundary is a habitat and removal is not permitted. During its deliberations the appeals committee was aware of the specific facts of the case, namely that an open drain forming a boundary between two plots on the holding had been piped and filled. The REPS appeals committee is independent and its decisions represent my Department's final position on any penalty case.
72 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason a person (details supplied) in County Clare has not received installation aid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18767/02]
My Department can find no application for installation aid from the person named.
73 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his Department will refund immediately the 2001 area aid money which has been withheld from extensification cheques to persons (details supplied) in County Clare. [18773/02]
The persons named inadvertently claimed a land parcel on their 2001 area aid application which had already been pre-printed on the form. This resulted in the parcel being claimed twice. The error has now been rectified and their 2001 area aid application has been fully processed with an area determined for payment purposes of 20.16 hectares. A refund of €109.32 will issue to the persons named shortly.
