Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 November 2014
434. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for his Department's delay in contacting farmers where there is an alleged overpayment; if he will consider, where circumstances permit, issuing payment less the alleged overclaim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41530/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraPayments under the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Areas Scheme and other area-based schemes may be made only in respect of eligible land and applicants are obliged annually to declare the land parcels available to them; details of the eligible area of the land parcels are recorded on my Department’s Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS). Details of the use and area claimed for each of some one million parcels on the LPIS system are registered and continually monitored by my Department.
Where over claims are identified during the processing of Single Farm Payment applications my Department contacts the applicant concerned. However, in order to expedite the flow of payments the current procedure for dealing with such overclaims is to process the application, in accordance with EU rules, and issue payment on the basis of the Department’s determined reference area. This allows funds to be paid to a farmer without withholding the entire amount while the overclaim issue is resolved. If, following review, an area is increased, a further supplementary payment can issue to the applicant.
Finally, I can confirm that payment runs are continuing on a twice-weekly basis, with individual cases being paid after they are confirmed as having satisfied the Scheme requirements.
