Ireland is one of seven European Union member states that must pay back a total of €162 million of wrongly spent EU farm money, the European Commission said today.
"The money will be recovered because of inadequate control procedures or non-compliance with EU rules on agricultural expenditure," the European Commission said.
Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel
The funds will be recovered from Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Britain.
France must repay a total of €85.81 million - the largest amount of money - for paying aid to farmers for land that was ineligible for subsidies and for a lack of checks on projects for which payments were awarded.
Poor management, such as banning vine planting without first awarding new planting rights, means Spain must pay back €33.36 million to Brussels.
Italy has been hit with a bill of €9.41 million for not completing enough checks on farmers' applications, while Greece must repay €8.07 million, also for poor control measures.
Insufficient quantity controls has earned Britain an invoice of €2.39 million, with Ireland and Portugal receiving fines of less than €500,000 for lesser offences.
"This is a vital process in making sure taxpayers' money is not abused and used properly," EU farm chief Mariann Fischer Boel said.