Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2013
1162. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason that over the past number of years inspection penalties suffered by farmers have gone up by 500% and where the increase in penalties have occurred; the causes and the rules and controls that were broken in each category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37007/13]
View answerIn order to ensure the successful delivery of approximately €1.7 billion of EU monies under the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Areas Scheme and other area based schemes, my Department is required to carry out an annual round of inspections covering both the eligibility of the land declared to draw down payments and also cross compliance aspects. The basis for these checks is clearly laid down in the governing EU Regulations and there are certain minimum numbers and types of inspections that must take place annually. Indeed previous EU audits have made it clear that these rules and regulations must be complied with in order to avoid EU disallowances.
Land eligibility inspections (either on-farm or by remote sensing) must be carried out on at least 5% of applicants. These checks are carried out to verify that the actual area claimed in the application form corresponds to the area farmed by the farmer and to ensure that any ineligible land or features are not included for aid purposes. Currently, around 75% of these inspections are carried out in the first instance without the need for a farm visit, as the information needed is acquired using the technique of remote sensing via satellite.
It is also a regulatory requirement that Cross Compliance inspections must take place throughout the calendar year to take account of specific requirements at individual Statutory Management Requirement level and are required in order to ensure compliance with EU regulatory requirements in the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare.
In response to a number of queries and in order to clarify recent comments regarding a perceived increase in both penalties in percentage terms and in the number of farmers penalised as a result of inspections, my Department is currently in the process of compiling a comprehensive set of statistics on all inspections carried out under the Single Payment and Disadvantaged Area Schemes since 2005. Given the very comprehensive and detailed nature of the information requested across a broad range of schemes, I am arranging for it to be provided directly in an appropriate format to the Deputy as soon as possible.
