Vol. 518 No. 6
194 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the reason a penalty has been imposed under the REPS on a person (details supplied) in County Galway in relation to the cutting back of a hedge where a more appropriate line of action would be to trim it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12398/00]
It is a basic condition of REPS that each applicant must have an agri-environmental plan prepared for his farm by a professional planner. The plan includes a schedule of maintenance for hedgerows drawn up by the planner, specifying the location, timescale and nature of the work to be carried out. In making his application under the scheme, the applicant agrees to abide by this and other requirements of his plan.
As a result of a REPS compliance inspection in January 1998, the participant named was penalised 10% for failure to retain hedgerows as specified in his agri-environmental plan. He appealed this penalty unsuccessfully to his local farm development service, and subsequently to the REPS appeals committee. The appeals committee considered the matter but noted that the applicant had not followed the maintenance schedule specified in his plan, and, therefore, decided that the penalty must remain in place. The participant was informed of this decision in June 1999. When a REPS penalty is appealed, the decision of the appeals committee is the Department's final position.
