Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 October 2004
76 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the position regarding a REP scheme in the name of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24712/04]
View answerFarmers in the rural environment protection scheme undertake a five year contract and this may be terminated only in limited and specified exceptional circumstances which are laid down in the scheme. Under the EU regulations governing REPS, a participant must make an application for each annual payment. Failure to do so means that the contract must be terminated and all payments recovered, unless exceptional circumstances apply.
In this case, my Department wrote to the person named on 13 September 2001, advising him that he had to lodge his third year payment application form by 31 October 2001. As he failed to do so, my Department had no option but to terminate his participation in the scheme and seek to recover all the payments he had received.
