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Farm payments are facing an unprecedented clawback from the EU because of weak land eligibility checks, the State’s financial watchdog has revealed.
As first revealed in the Irish Farmers Journal in December 2017, the European Commission imposed a severe penalty on Ireland for weaknesses in its land mapping found during routine auditing.
Now, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG)’s office has put a number on the penalty for the first time.
For each year since 2015, “a flat-rate correction of 10% [later reduced to 5%] of area-based aid” is proposed across direct payments and area-based rural development schemes, the C&AG wrote.
Assuming the 5% penalty would apply to BPS, Greening and ANC schemes from 2015 to 2017, it would amount to €210m.
“The issues were not resolved by November 2018,” the C&AG added.
In 2013, the Commission hit Ireland with a fine of €181m for claiming ineligible land.
This was eventually negotiated down to €69m, with the Commission warning that it would take a much harder line should Ireland re-offend. Farmers were forced to repay between €10m and €20m in BPS clawback, but the State carried most of the bill.
Last year, the Department of Agriculture awarded two contracts worth a combined €19.5m to the Icon Group in Dublin and Mallon Technology in Co Tyrone to “rebuild” and “update” its Land Parcel Identification System.
The projects are due to conclude next year and the Department is trialling the new system in Co Louth.
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