Payment entitlements under the Single Payments Scheme were not attached to specific land. The regulations in relation to the consolidation of payment entitlements on owned and leased land were originally set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No 795/2004 which was repealed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1120/2009.
Article 46(2) of Regulation 1782/2003 sets out the circumstances for the transfer of payment entitlements under the Single Farm Payment Scheme. The article states that payment entitlements can be transferred by sale or other definitive transfer methods with or without land.
Leased payment entitlements must be accompanied by a transfer of the equivalent number of eligible hectares unless force majeure, or exceptional circumstances apply, in which case the leasing of the entitlements without land may be facilitated.
Force majeure is assessed on a case by case basis as detailed in the preamble of paragraph 5 of Commission Regulation (EC) 1306/2013. Taking this into consideration the Department would not be able to comment on the application of force majeure without the relevant underlying facts of each specific case.
A Single Payment Scheme audit carried out by the European Court of Auditors ensured that the process implemented by the Department was entirely in accordance with EU Regulations (with Article 42(5) of Regulation (EC) 1782/2003 and Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 795/2004). There were no findings in the final report concerning Ireland's implementation of the consolidation process.
The Court of Auditors is a separate entity who are authorised to conduct audits on behalf of the European Commission on the implementation mechanics of Member States.
