Written Answers Nos. 68-72
68. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive the outcome of an appeal under the 2014 single payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36700/15]
View answerAn application under the 2013 Single Payment/Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on 1 March 2013 and payments of €3,666.78 and €3,404.57 were issued on 16 October 2013 and 2 December 2013 respectively under the Single Farm Payment Scheme. A payment of €1,562.72 was issued on 20 September 2013 under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme.
A review of the land parcels declared by the person named under the 2013 Single Payment Scheme revealed that several of the land parcels declared contained ineligible features, and a notification was issued to this effect. This resulted in a reduction to the area payable under the 2013 land based schemes. Following this process, the person named was notified of this decision and of his right of appeal. A review of my Department’s decision was then sought by the applicant, which necessitated a visit by a Department official to verify the position on the ground. This inspection determined that the position on the ground warranted a further reduction in the overall reference area.
On foot of this, an overpayment of €2,932.49 under the 2013 Single Farm Payment Scheme was created on 24 March 2015 and an overpayment of €705.53 under the 2013 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was created on 15 September 2014. A letter detailing the outcome of the above verification check was issued to the person named on the 10 September 2014, and he was advised of the option to refer the matter to the independent Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) Appeals Committee.
The person named opted to avail of his right to appeal his case to the LPIS Appeal Committee. Following due consideration, the LPIS Appeal Committee rejected his appeal and he was notified of the decision by letter dated 12 January 2015. The person named can appeal this decision to the Office of the Ombudsman if he so wishes.
69. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has received all the necessary information from a person (details supplied) in County Cork in respect of an application for the 2015 national reserve for young farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36727/15]
View answerThe person named has submitted an application under the 2015 National Reserve and Young Farmers Scheme. All necessary documentation requested to date has been received. Processing of applications is underway which involves administrative and on farm checks and verification of land details submitted under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme application. These checks are required under EU Regulations.
When all checks have been completed and processing of applications has been finalised, my Department will correspond directly with each applicant to advise them of the outcome of their application.
Payments to successful applicants under the National Reserve and Young Farmers Scheme will commence early in December 2015.
70. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will investigate payments for a person (details supplied) in County Cork under the areas of natural constraint scheme; if there are any outstanding payments due; when these payments will be issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36729/15]
View answerAn application under the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme was received from the person named on 29 May 2015. Processing of the application is currently in progress. On completion of this process, the application will be further reviewed with a view to payment issuing directly to the nominated bank account of the person named at the earliest possible date.
71. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will reinstate the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme which was cut by 50% given that this is directly penalising good farmers who wish to join; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36736/15]
View answerI assume the Deputy is referring to the change to the Low Input Permanent Pasture requirement for Tranche 2 of GLAS.
On the basis of the plans submitted for the 27,000 applications received under Tranche 1 of GLAS, it is clear that we have already met or exceeded our targets for the entire RDP period for the Low Input Permanent Pasture action. For this reason, it is proposed to adjust the provision for the Low Input Permanent Pasture (LIPP) action under the second tranche of GLAS, given that we have already met all our targets. As things stand, over 20% of the entire budget for GLAS will be directed towards payments of this one action. However, it will still be possible to take a combination of up to 10 hectares of LIPP or Traditional Hay Meadow as before, but for Tranche 2 the LIPP component will be limited to 5 hectares. Instead, I would like to see more farmers avail of the Traditional Hay Meadow option, which attracts the same rate of payment.
There are plenty of options within GLAS from which farmers can choose, but it should be remembered that priority must always be given to Tier 1 applications, i.e. applications from farmers with Priority Environmental Assets like Natura land, endangered birds, high status watercourses, commonages etc. Amongst the other changes I have made for Tranche 2 are a number which provide for greater flexibility in these areas and I expect that significant numbers of Tier 1 applications will be received in the next tranche.
72. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of freedom of information requests, in tabular form, received by his Department in 2015 to date; the number of these where the period of consideration was completed within four weeks of the receipt of the request or was extended by up to four weeks because the necessary resources to complete the request within the original timeframe were not available. [36741/15]
View answerFrom 1st January 2015 to 18th September 2015, a total of 230 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were received by my Department. These 230 requests would in the normal course of events fall due to be completed by 16th October 2015 (four weeks after 18th September) or earlier depending on the date of receipt of the request.
The following table sets out information in respect of these 230 requests in terms of completion within the four week timeframe.
|
- |
No. |
|
Total number of FOI Requests received from 1st January 2015 to 18th September 2015 |
230 |
|
Completed within four weeks from date of receipt |
176 |
|
Completed outside of four weeks from date of receipt |
54 |
There are a number of provisions in the FoI Act which allow for the completion of requests outside of the standard 4 week time frame including where the request is for a large number of records and the requirement for third party consultation.
In addition some requests can involve the retrieval and co-ordination of records from various areas/locations across the Department including files in storage and/or requests may be received during peak holiday period when resources may be reduced. In both of these latter circumstances the information may on occasion, be provided outside of the four week timeframe.
Overall more than 75% of all requests under the Freedom of Information Act are processed within four weeks of receipt. My Department does not have a breakdown of the remaining 25% as between those covered by provisions of the Act and those that are delayed due to resources or other unavoidable circumstances.
My Department is committed to meeting its obligations under the FOI Act 2014 including responding to FOI requests within the specified timeframes.
