I propose to take Questions Nos. 963 and 964 together.
The Deputy will be fully aware of the importance of payments made under the Single Payment Scheme, the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme and other Direct Payment Schemes to the annual income of Irish farmers. My 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 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 of account process, conducted by the EU Commission, 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 (i) review its entire LPIS database and deal with ineligible features – re-digitise – (ii) establish any over-payments due to the over-declaration and seek refund from the farmers involved and (iii) prepare a report of its findings to the Commission by 15th December. Depending on the level of risk assessed by the EU Commission financial corrections may be applied to a Member State. These corrections can be very substantial and may vary from 2% to 10% or even 100% in certain cases. It can, therefore, be appreciated that the financial risk is very significant. Other Member States who have been subject to this review process have been levied with very substantial financial corrections, up to €500 million in one instance.
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. The Department is currently reviewing all land parcels claimed. This effectively means a review of all 950,000 land parcels. As a result of this phase of this review, any payments made to farmers in respect of claimed areas, which were found to be ineligible, must be reimbursed. The Review of the 950,000 parcels contained on the LPIS database is well advanced at this stage and is on target to be finalised in time to allow a comprehensive response to the Commission within the specified time-frame.
I have introduced a robust and comprehensive appeal process. In the first instance, applicants are 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-chaired Land Eligibility Appeals Committee, details of which I announced recently. This Committee will consist of an independent Chairman and appeals officers from the Agriculture Appeals Office.
County-specific statistics will be available immediately the exercise is completed.
