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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 28 Mar 2000

Vol. 516 No. 6

Written Answers. - Rural Environment Protection Scheme.

Ulick Burke

Ceist:

249 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the number of 5% REP scheme audits to be carried out in each district which were selected for audit per month for the past 12 months; if he will provide a detailed breakdown per district per month; his views on whether a serious breach of the Charter of Rights is occurring; and the remedial action, if any, he proposes in this regard. [9129/00]

The following is a nationwide breakdown of the numbers selected at random for a plan and on-farm inspection, 5% audit over the last 12 months. A detailed breakdown by district is being compiled and will be supplied to the Deputy within a week.

Month

Selected for 5% Audit

Inspected

Pending inspection or resolution of outstanding issues

April 1999

164

152

12

May 1999

196

177

19

June 1999

179

152

27

July 1999

141

111

30

August 1999

207

164

43

September 1999

210

150

60

October 1999

171

108

63

November 1999

214

92

122

December 1999

215

66

149

January 2000

253

47

206

February 2000

185

18

167

March 2000

135

5

130

In operating the REP scheme, my Department has to have regard to the need to maintain appropriate standards of monitoring and control. Pre-payment inspections are a key component of the control systems and payments cannot be made to REPS participants chosen for inspection until an inspection has taken place. An application cannot be considered to be valid, where a pre-payment inspection is required, until such time as the inspection has taken place and any issues arising have been satisfactorily resolved.
A range of circumstances, including the competing demands on human resources arising from the various schemes and services provided by my Department, can on occasion lead to delays in arranging inspections. My Department remains committed to providing an efficient service for REPS participants while at the same time meeting its responsibilities to appropriately monitor and control the scheme. In this context the matter of staff resource levels within the REPS area is under the active examination.
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