Pat Breen
Question:320. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine why payments to a person (details supplied) were reduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46544/15]
View answerWednesday, 13 January 2016
Questions (320, 428)
Pat Breen
Question:428. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine why a payment for a person (details supplied) in County Clare was reduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1554/16]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 320 and 428 together.
The 2014 Single Farm Payment/Disadvantaged Areas scheme application of the person named was initially selected for a Remote Sensing inspection. A subsequent field visit, to verify the position on the ground, identified discrepancies between the area declared and the area determined resulting in an over-declaration in area of greater than 50%. This resulted in no payment being due under the 2014 Single Payment Scheme and the application of an administrative fine to be offset against any future EU payments. The person named was notified of this decision on 27 April 2015.
As payment had already issued in respect of 2014, based on the results of the initial Remote Sensing inspection, my Department was required to recoup the amount of the payment issued from payments due under the REPS and the Beef Data Schemes.
The administrative fine to be applied in 2015 was calculated and the amount of €3,950.10 was deducted from the total amount of €9,036.04 due under the 2015 Direct Payments Scheme.
The person named sought a review of the decision in respect of the 2014 inspection. This review process included a re-inspection of the lands being claimed. The outcome of this review was to uphold the original decision. The person named was notified of this outcome on 20 July 2015. The person named submitted an appeal to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office, the outcome of which was to disallow that appeal. The person named was notified of this decision by the Agriculture Appeals Office on 8 December 2015. The person named was also notified that if they believed they had not been treated fairly by that Office it is open to them to raise the matter with the Office of the Ombudsman, 18 Lower Leeson St., Dublin 2.
An official from my Department will contact the person named to outline the above.