20 Dr. Moffatt asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of registered planners for the REP scheme. [4690/96]

22 Mr. Flood asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of spot checks on REP scheme plans to date. [4686/96]

32 Mr. Morley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of farmers who have received second payments under the REP scheme. [4691/96]

33 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when second instalments will be paid to farmers who are already included in the REP scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4702/96]

35 Mr. Foley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if the number of planning agencies who having submitted faulty REP scheme plans will, under new regulations, be required to submit all plans drawn up by them for re-examination; and the number of farmers affected in each case. [4687/96]

40 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the reason for the changes recently announced in the payment structure for the REP scheme; if he will ensure that the changes will not result in a reduction in the funding of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4696/96]

49 Dr. Moffatt asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the amount of money allocated for the REP scheme in 1996; the amount that accounts for the 75 per cent of the EU allocation and the 25 per cent Exchequer allocation respectively. [4689/96]

50 Mr. Flood asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the range of penalties up to and including withdrawal of recognition by the Department of REP scheme planners who submit plans that do not withstand inspection. [4685/96]

51 Mr. Foley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the number of farmers in the REP scheme who have also received a section 12 notice from local authorities. [4688/96]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 22, 32, 33, 35, 40, 49, 50 and 51 together.

The current allocation for REPS in 1996 is £41.56 million of which 75 per cent is recouped from the EU FEOGA fund. As I indicated in reply to a question today I am keeping the funding of REPS under close review with a view to ensuring that sufficient funds are available to meet the expected demand.

Under monitoring and control procedures carried out by my Department a random sample of REPS plans submitted in the latter half of 1995 were selected for checking. This resulted in over 200 cases being checked in detail and subjected to on-farm inspection. A further 200 approximately are currently being checked in this way but the results are not yet available.

To date nearly 100 defective plans, prepared by 20 of the 241 approved planning agencies, have been detected. Because the random selection did not target every agency, the checking is now being further extended to cover all agencies.