Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2013
323. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in view of the number of farmers that are finding their payments being cut following their lands being digitised, the number of farmers that have been notified that the area of ground they have been claiming for is being cut and reduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43174/13]
View answerMy Department is bound, under EU Regulations, to maintain the accuracy the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which underpins the processing of applications under these Schemes as well as REPS and AEOS. At the start of each year, my Department issues colour maps of all land parcels declared by farmers in the previous year together with a covering letter. In that letter, farmers are reminded to examine each map carefully and to identify and exclude from their application all ineligible features such as buildings, farmyards, scrub, roadways, forests, lakes etc. included in the land parcels. There is, therefore, an onus on all farmers to ensure that the area of land declared by them as eligible for payment under the Direct Payment Schemes is accurate. They are also given the means to do so by making the ortho-photos available to them on an annual basis. These requirements are also made clear in the Terms and Conditions of the Schemes, which accompanies the pre-printed application form issued to all farmers at the commencement of the application period each year. In view of the size and structure of farm enterprises in Ireland, farmers are fully aware of all of the non-eligible areas of their holdings.
In addition to any changes submitted by farmers, in order to insure the integrity of the LPIS, my Department continuously reviews the eligibility of lands claimed by farmers for the Single Payment Scheme and other Direct Payment Schemes.
As part of the clearance process a bi-lateral meeting was held on 25th July between the EU Commission Clearance auditors and my Department. At that meeting it was agreed that in order to avoid a significant correction, this Department had to review its entire LPIS database and its effectiveness and report to the Commission by 1 December. This is a mammoth task but my Department is making effort to ensure that it will be completed in a manner that satisfies the Commission. As a result of this review, any payments made to farmers in respect of claimed areas, which were found to be ineligible, must be reimbursed.
If farmers are not satisfied with the determination made in their case, my intention is to introduce a robust and comprehensive appeal process. In the first instance, applicants will be entitled to have their case reviewed by submitting their appeal on the form provided by my Department. If they are not satisfied with the outcome of the review, they can appeal their case to the Independent Land Eligibility Appeals Committee. This Committee with consist of an independent Chairman and appeal officers from the Agriculture Appeals Office. As the review is still ongoing, it is not possible to quantify the number of farmers that will be affected.
