Ireland got back from EU over twice what it made in payments to union

IRELAND received over twice the amount of money it paid to the EU last year despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the union.

But the Court of Auditors refused for the eighth year in a row to give a clean bill of health to the EU's €93 billion budget because of errors and poor accounting systems.

Ireland's receipts from the EU budget have been dropping steadily from a high of €3.3 billion in 1997. Payments to the EU have doubled since 1994 when they were €638 million.

Ireland is expected to be a net contributor paying more than it receives after 2007.

At present its payments make up 1.5% of the EU's €94.88 billion budget.

The annual audit of the EU's accounts showed that Irish farmers continue to get a substantial share of the funds. In all, they received €1.58 billion, which was 3.8% of the total fund, while payments under Structural Funds amounted to €617 million in 2001.

However, a detailed investigation into payments following the Foot and Mouth débâcle and for beef and veal found a number of problems.

These included 106 farmers claiming for more sheep than they had when the animals were being put down following the Foot and Mouth outbreak.

In all, 16 of those claiming premiums had no sheep on their farms at all when the cull took place.

Under the extensification premium and payment schemes that puts €100 million into the pockets of beef and veal farmers annually, the Auditors found problems with the implementation of the scheme.

But Irish farmers appeared to be more honest than many of their counterparts in other EU countries where the Commission will be demanding the return of a total of €86.3 million.

The countries Austria, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Britain are all accused of not having good enough control procedures or not complying with the EU rules on agricultural expenditure.

But on the overall budget the Court of Auditors refused to give a clean bill of health to the Commission for its management of the budget.

Court member, former Justice Minister Máire Geoghegan Quinn, said greater transparency was required and better accounting systems.

This is the eighth year in a row the Auditors have found persistent errors in all areas of expenditure except in administration. Many of the problems relate to spending of EU money by member countries, but in the overall the Commission is responsible for ensuring the money is properly spent.

Ms Geoghegan Quinn said the Commission has begun at last to address this problem and install a new system, but they must give a timeframe for it to become operational, such as a year.

The previous Commission was forced to resign over their failure to take responsibility for the accounts.