Ombudsman Peter Tyndall was called upon to intervene in the case of a farmer’s complaint against the Department of Agriculture last year.

The farmer made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman about a decision by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to withhold some of the grants due to him.

The payments related to 2014 and an alleged overclaim on an eligible area under the Single Payment Scheme.

The man disputed the decision and said that a letter he got in September 2016 was the first correspondence from the Department on this matter, despite numerous attempts to resolve the issue.

Examination

Following contact with the Ombudsman, the Department of Agriculture agreed that the best way to resolve this would be for the Department official and the man to meet in person and go through payments over the years.

The man agreed to a meeting, after which he accepted the Department’s decision.

Outcome

The Ombudsman was happy to assist in reaching a resolution for the man, but felt that the issue could have been resolved much sooner had the Department engaged and communicated more readily with the man at an earlier stage.

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