Grant Payments

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 April 2012

Thursday, 26 April 2012

Questions (205)

Willie Penrose

Question:

205 Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if in the context of a report by the office of the Ombudsman, dated 13 February 2007, whereby it was indicated, that the Ombudsman concluded that his Department’s record keeping practice in this particular instance had been less than commendable, and whereby the lack of records in this case was mainly contributed to the difficulty that arose in relation to the personal complaint, if he will now indicate if this matter was raised in the Ombudsman’s report has now been addressed and if this person (details supplied) in County Westmeath may now be considered for appropriate payments, in view of the fact that they have been denied same for the past ten years or more; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21067/12]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Simon Coveney)

The processing of the applications of the person named was fully investigated by an official of my Department, who concluded that proper procedures had been followed in all respects. The person named was notified of the outcome of this review and advised of his right of appeal to the Agriculture Appeals Office, should he wish to pursue matters further. The person named subsequently chose to avail of this option; that Office, having fully considered the grounds of his appeal and all the circumstances of the case, decided to disallow the appeal. A subsequent appeal by the person named to the Office of the Ombudsman proved similarly unsuccessful. I can confirm that Department officials fully co-operated with the investigations of both the Agriculture Appeals Office and the Office of the Ombudsman in their review of the case of the person named, in line with standard procedure. I can also confirm that the person named has received full payments in recent years in respect of the applications lodged under the Single Payment Scheme and the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme.