Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 November 2013
142. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide in tabular form on a county basis the number of unannounced farm inspections carried out in 2011, 2012 and to the end of September 2013; his views on the practice of unannounced inspections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47234/13]
View answerIn the context of delivering the Direct Payment Schemes my Department is required to carry out on-the-spot inspections on a number of farms covering such issues as eligibility under the Scheme, compliance with EU legislation in the areas of the environment, food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health and ensuring that the farm is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition. These inspections are mandatory and there are certain minimum numbers and types of inspections that must take place annually. In addition, my Department undertakes Nitrates inspections under the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) regulations on behalf of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.
Rules regarding the advance notification of inspections are clearly laid down in the governing EU regulations and must be adhered to by officials in my Department. In general, all inspections should be unannounced. However, the regulations allow my Department to give up to 14 days notice for land eligibility and cross-compliance inspections involving SMRs other than those related to animal identification and registration, food, feed, and animal welfare. For checks involving cattle and sheep identification and registration the maximum advance notice is 48 hours. For SMRs dealing with feed, food and animal welfare no advance notice may be given and these inspections must take place on an un-announced basis. Where it is considered that the purpose of any type of inspection may be jeopardised by giving notice, the inspection will take place on an un-announced basis. In determining the type of notice to be given for an inspection a number of factors are considered so as to ensure that the inspection process is not jeopardised. These notification procedures are in accordance with those outlined in my Department’s Farmers’ Charter and Action Plan.
The following table provides a breakdown, by county and by year, of the number of unannounced inspections under the Single Payment and Disadvantaged Areas Schemes and the Nitrates (GAP) inspections for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 to end October. The 793 unannounced inspections for 2013 (to end October) equates to 10.35% of the overall total of 7,665 inspections undertaken to date within the above categories.
|
County |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
Carlow |
35 |
34 |
12 |
|
Cavan |
86 |
52 |
13 |
|
Clare |
84 |
60 |
52 |
|
Cork |
240 |
153 |
54 |
|
Donegal |
163 |
132 |
50 |
|
Dublin |
18 |
15 |
7 |
|
Galway |
185 |
164 |
104 |
|
Kerry |
151 |
85 |
31 |
|
Kildare |
52 |
44 |
11 |
|
Kilkenny |
89 |
50 |
25 |
|
Laois |
70 |
74 |
15 |
|
Leitrim |
31 |
76 |
22 |
|
Limerick |
80 |
96 |
55 |
|
Longford |
46 |
37 |
23 |
|
Louth |
20 |
21 |
6 |
|
Mayo |
191 |
88 |
84 |
|
Meath |
74 |
59 |
11 |
|
Monaghan |
77 |
65 |
18 |
|
Offaly |
59 |
39 |
14 |
|
Roscommon |
90 |
55 |
32 |
|
Sligo |
51 |
62 |
13 |
|
Tipperary |
150 |
127 |
72 |
|
Waterford |
41 |
43 |
23 |
|
Westmeath |
63 |
74 |
11 |
|
Wexford |
70 |
40 |
23 |
|
Wicklow |
53 |
43 |
12 |
