Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2018
488. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding single farm payments (details supplied) in certain scenarios; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53282/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 2012 Single Payment Scheme Terms and Conditions gave an overview of the requirements to be fulfilled to ensure that land was eligible for SPS payments. In particular, page 6 states “There must be evidence of an agricultural activity being conducted throughout the parcel, otherwise the unused part of the parcel may be found to be ineligible”. Page 7 of the Terms and Conditions further outlines situations where land is not eligible for SPS and states that “in the case of each hectare declared, the eligible area excludes any areas under roads, paths, buildings, farmyards, woods, scrub, rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, sand, area of bare rock etc......”. The provisions for Eligibility inspections are given on page 23 of the Terms and Conditions. In particular, it states that “Single Payment Scheme applications will be subject to administrative checks, controls by remote sensing using satellite imagery or aerial photography, and on-farm inspections. There are no provisions for standardised deductions, rather deductions can be made based on inspection findings, which in the case of scattered ineligible features may result in a percentage deduction. In 2012, applicants were notified of the outcome of inspections where an area declaration at herd level was applied, taking into account the applicants entitlements position. In addition applicants were given a right to seek a review of that decision to the Department while they were also entitled to appeal the decision of the Department to the Independent Agriculture Appeals Office.
If the Deputy has a specific case on which he wishes to receive further clarification, this will be provided on receipt of the details of the case.
