Since the inception of the REP scheme, applicants have been informed by the Department through the scheme document and specifications that the farm area to be declared means the total area either owned or leased, jointly or singly, and that payment will only be made to applicants when evidence is provided, each year, of compliance with the agri-environmental plan, the Department's specifications and all other conditions of the scheme.
The revised REP scheme document introduced in January 1999 set out the new procedures to be implemented in the event of discovery of an over or under-declaration of land, that is, the imposition of a 50% penalty.
Before these procedures were introduced, such contraventions could result in the exclusion of participants from the scheme and a full recoupment of moneys already paid.
Since the introduction of the REP scheme, 36 applicants from County Clare have had penalties imposed for over or under-declaration of land farmed and/or incorrectly showing farm boundaries.