Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 May 2013
322. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the remaining and outstanding agri-environment option scheme payments will be issued to farmers in consideration of the crisis the farmers are currently experiencing regarding the fodder shortages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21103/13]
View answerUnder the EU Regulations governing all area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check of all applications, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must be completed before any AEOS payment can issue.
Successive EU audits have made it absolutely clear that compliance with the Regulations must be strictly adhered to and that all administrative checks must be passed and eligibility conditions met before payment issues. As a result, my Department is obliged to ensure that individual payments will not issue until all aspects of a farmer’s application are in order, all outstanding documentation provided and all queries resolved. In most instances where payments are outstanding there remains an outstanding query on the application. These queries are being resolved on an ongoing basis and officials in my Department will have contacted the applicants concerned with the intention of issuing payment as soon as possible. I am of course conscious of the difficulties facing the farming community at present and this is why I am prioritising outstanding payments, including AEOS, and ensuring that they issue as soon as possible.
I am conscious that farmers are experiencing difficulties given the current fodder shortage. Payments are being processed as promptly as possible. Approximately 1,500 AEOS payments issued over the last 10 days, while close to a further 600 AEOS payments valued at just over €1.3m is expected to issue within the next week.
