Vol. 510 No. 3
197 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the extent, if any, to which backlogs exist in relation to the processing of schemes operated by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22678/99]
Some backlogs exist at present in the processing of applications under the rural environment protection scheme and the scheme of early retirement from farming. Both schemes have been extremely successful and this is shown by the scale on which they have been taken up by farmers. In 1994, which was the first year of REPS, there were just over 500 participants. This year, that number has grown to nearly 43,000. The early retirement scheme began with 1,000 participants in 1994 but now has over 8,000. The enormous growth in the number of participants has placed an increasing strain on the limited human resources which my Department can dedicate to these schemes among the many other programmes and services which it must deliver.
Applications under REPS are submitted to my Department's local farm development service offices. Nationally, the average time taken to process an application for first payment is less than four weeks. However 5% of new applicants are subjected to a detailed prepayment check, including on-farm inspection, and the processing of these cases naturally takes longer. In the case of applications for REPS payments in the second and subsequent years, 45% are recommended for payment by the district superintendent generally within a few weeks. The remaining 55% are subjected to on-farm checks which are taking on average eight weeks to do prior to going for payment. In the case of non-compliant participants there are, of course, further delays in processing.
On the early retirement scheme, 10% of applications are subject to a pre-payment check and 10% of all participants are compliance checked annually. The delay in processing applications, averaged on a country basis, is approximately three months at present.
While every effort is made to minimise delays, it must be emphasised that when delays do take place they do not result in financial loss to participants in these schemes. Participants in REPS submit a plan and, if the plan is approved they are paid for five years following approval. Processing delays do not result in any diminution of the payment period. Successful applicants for the early retirement scheme receive their pension with effect from the date on which a valid application, including all necessary supporting documentation, is received and allowance is made, in calculating that date, for any delay in processing which is outside the control of the applicant.
My Department is committed to providing an acceptable level of service to its clients. At the same time, it has to be conscious of the need to maintain a level of control which will guard against errors and abuses in the operation of the various schemes for which it is responsible. My Department is constantly reviewing both its procedures and the way it deploys its limited human resources with a view to meeting both objectives to the greatest extent possible.
