Written Answers Nos. 1084-1100
1084. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a GLAS payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15864/18]
View answerThe GLAS payments due to person named are fully up to date.
1085. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a GLAS payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15865/18]
View answerThe person named was approved into GLAS 2 with a contract commencement date of 1 January 2016.
The GLAS participation of the person named was subject to inspection and a letter advising of the final outcome of the inspection has issued. Once all issues relating to the inspection have been finalised this case will move to the payment stage.
1086. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a GLAS payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15866/18]
View answerThe GLAS payments due to person named are fully up to date.
1087. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a GLAS payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15867/18]
View answerThe person named was approved into GLAS 2 with a contract commencement date of 1 January 2016 and has received the 85% advance payment in respect of 2016.
The case was the subject of an inspection. Following this my Department has been in regular direct contact with the applicant in relation to an outstanding issue. My Department will continue to work with the herd owner to resolve the issue.
1088. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a farm payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15869/18]
View answerThe appeal received from the person named in respect of the burning of land outside of the permitted period in 2017 has been reviewed and accepted by my Department. As a result my Department has decided to waive the administrative penalty applied in this case. However payment will not issue in respect of the area of land determined to have been burned illegally.
A payment of the amount due has issued to the nominated bank account of the person named and a letter has issued to him outlining the position. This letter also outlined the option available of appealing the decision to the Agriculture Appeals Office.
1089. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a GLAS payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15870/18]
View answerAll GLAS payments in this case are fully up to date.
1090. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a farm payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15871/18]
View answerThe appeal received from the person named in respect of the burning of land outside of the permitted period in 2017 has been reviewed and accepted by my Department. As a result the Department has decided to waive the administrative penalty applied in this case. However payment will not issue in respect of the area of land determined to have been burned illegally.
A payment of the amount due has issued to the nominated bank account of the person named and a letter has issued to him outlining the position. This letter also outlined the option available of appealing the decision to the Agriculture Appeals Office.
1091. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline the status of a basic payments scheme payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15872/18]
View answerThe person named submitted a 2017 Basic Payment/Areas of Natural Constraint Schemes application on 11 May 2017. EU Regulations governing the administration of these schemes require that full and comprehensive administrative checks, including in some cases remote sensing (satellite) inspections, be completed before any payments issue.
The application of the person named was selected for a Remote Sensing eligibility inspection. This inspection, which included a field visit to determine the position on the ground, identified over-declarations in area exceeding 10% of the area claimed. This resulted in the area determined being reduced by 1.5 times the difference between the area claimed and area determined, as required under the governing EU regulations. The final position was that no payment was due under the 2017 Basic Payment/Areas of Natural Constraints Schemes.
A letter detailing the initial inspection findings issued on 15 January 2018 and afforded the person named the opportunity to submit comments on the findings within 14 days. While comments were received from the person named these were received after the 14 day period and the inspection outcome was finalised. A letter detailing the final outcome of the inspection issued on 6 February 2018.
A review of the case is currently being undertaken taking account of the comments received and this process is nearing completion. The person named will be notified of the outcome of this review shortly. In the event that there is any change to the inspection outcome following this review, any monies due under these schemes will be processed promptly.
In the event that the person named is dissatisfied with the outcome of this review, the decision can be appealed to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office, within 3 months.
1092. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a farm payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15873/18]
View answerAll GLAS payments in this case are fully up to date.
1093. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a GLAS payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15877/18]
View answerAll GLAS payments in this case are fully up to date.
1094. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a basic payments scheme payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15879/18]
View answerUnder the Terms and Conditions of the Basic Payment Scheme, an applicant, as well as meeting the scheme criteria, must comply with EU regulatory requirements relating to Cross Compliance. The penalty applied under the 2017 Basic Payment Scheme related to a breach of Cross Compliance requirements.
The Department’s records indicate that in 2016, the amount of nitrogen from livestock manure applied to land on the holding of the person named, (including that deposited by animals), was 192 kg per hectare, which exceeded the limit of 170 kg per hectare set down in the Nitrates Regulations for farmers without an approved derogation.
As similar breaches under the Nitrates Regulations had been identified within the previous three years, the regulatory provisions required that the rules on reoccurrence be applied and this resulted in a final penalty of 9% being applied against the 2017 Direct Schemes payments. The person named was notified of this decision on 24th November 2017.
The person named sought a review of the decision and the outcome of the review was to remove the cross compliance penalty. Monies due as a result of this decision issued to the nominated bank account of the person named under the Basic Payment Scheme and Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme on 29 January 2018 and 20 February 2018, respectively.
1095. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is considering derogation from the three-crop rule for 2018 due to the late planting season ruling out certain crop choices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15882/18]
View answerThe difficult and prolonged winter of 2017, and very late and wet spring, has caused great difficulties for both livestock and tillage farmers in Ireland.
Tillage farmers in receipt of the greening payment are required to comply with the obligations that exist under the Crop Diversification and Ecological Focus Area measures. Under Crop Diversification farmers with greater than 30 hectares of arable land are required to have three crops with the main crop not exceeding 75% and the two main crops not exceeding 95%. Those with between 10 and 30 hectares are required to have two crops with the main crop not exceeding 75%.
As a consequence of the extreme weather I have made a very robust case to the EU Commission for an exemption from the Crop Diversification obligations in 2018.
Officials from my Department are now in discussion with the EU Commission on how this proposed derogation would operate in practice for 2018.
1096. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a farm payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15883/18]
View answerThe person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 January 2016 and has received all payments in respect of 2016.
Validation checks must be passed on all actions on GLAS claims and all cases must clear these checks before payment can issue. My Department is working proactively to complete these checks on all claims to allow for the issue of payments. Once this case clears validations the 2017 advance payment will be made. GLAS payments are issuing on a weekly basis.
1097. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a farm payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15885/18]
View answerAn application was received under the Sheep Welfare Scheme from the person named on 16 January 2017. Under the terms and condition of the scheme, applicants to the scheme are required to submit the annual Sheep Census return in accordance within the set deadlines.
In the case of this application, the Sheep Census Return for 2016 was not received within the required deadlines and thus the application for participation in the scheme was not accepted.
The applicant submitted an initial appeal on this decision to the Department. However, this appeal was unsuccessful. A subsequent appeal to the Agriculture Appeals Office by the applicant was deemed successful and the Department were notified of the decision of the Agriculture Appeals Office in a letter dated 12th February 2018. The application will now be processed for payment accordingly.
1098. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of an agri-environment options scheme payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15887/18]
View answerA letter was issued to the person named on 28 August 2017 stating that, following a review, the decision to terminate the AEOS contract was upheld. The person named was also informed of his option to appeal this decision to the Agricultural Appeals Office.
I understand that an appeal was received by the Agricultural Appeals Office on 6 October 2017. The Oral Hearing requested and had been scheduled for 31 January 2018 but the appellant subsequently cancelled this hearing and indicated that they were unavailable to attend an Oral Hearing until February.
An oral hearing was held on 8 February. On 23 March the Agricultural Appeals Office wrote to the person named and the Department informing both that the decision was that the appeal was partially upheld.
The Department will now implement the decision of the Appeals Office and make adjustments to the contract as outlined in the appeal decision.
1099. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of a GLAS payment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15897/18]
View answerThe above named was approved into GLAS 2 with a contract commencement date of 1 January 2016 and has been paid in respect of the 2015 scheme year.
An inspection of the GLAS actions was carried out which found an issue with one of the actions chosen. The Department has been notified that an appeal has been lodged with the Agricultural Appeals Office (AAO) in respect of this. The GLAS payment will be further processed when the outcome of the appeal is issued.
1100. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if payment to farmers in County Kerry, whose payments were reduced due to gorse fires for which they were not responsible, will be reinstated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15898/18]
View answerMy Department wrote to a number of farmers in Kerry about the detected illegal burning of land on the applications submitted by them under the 2017 Basic Payment scheme. The farmers concerned were advised of the implications for them of declaring the lands concerned and of their right to seek a review from my Department.
Some of these farmers submitted requests for reviews and included supporting documentation for consideration by my Department. The review process has been concluded in respect of some of the farmers in Kerry and supplementary payments have issued where appropriate.
I must point out that my Department has decided to waive the administrative penalty where it was applied in these cases. However payment will not issue in respect of the areas of land determined to have been burned illegally.
In each case a letter has issued directly to the farmers concerned setting out the position. This letter also outlined the option available of appealing the decision to the Agriculture Appeals Office.
