Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 November 2013
363. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether farm inspections should be more advisory rather than penalising as the prospect of inspections are causing great stress to the farming community; and if he will allow farmers time to correct problems that arise before the imposition of penalties. [48097/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department, in the context of delivering the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Areas' Scheme and other area based schemes 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, to ensure compliance with EU regulatory requirements in the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare and ensuring that the land is maintained in good agricultural and environment condition. These mandatory inspections are governed by EU legislation and there are certain minimum numbers and types of inspections that must take place annually.
These inspections are a necessary requirement to drawn down approximately €1.7 billion of EU funds annually and to avoid EU disallowances. My Department must therefore ensure that these inspections are conducted in full accordance with the legislative provisions.
EU regulations governing these inspections prescribe a range of reductions and penalties to be applied where an over-declaration in area has been found at an Eligibility inspection and/or where non-compliance under the Cross Compliance regime has been identified at inspection.
In the case of Eligibility inspections, a tiered rate of reduction applies:
- Difference of less than 3% or 2 ha - Aid reduced to reflect lower eligible area;
- Difference >3%, but < 20% - Aid based on lower eligible area reduced by twice the difference between the area determined and the area claimed (or entitlements held if lower);
- Difference > 20%, but < 50 % - No payment for Scheme year;
- Difference > 50% - No payment for Scheme year and a Multi-Annual sanction based on the value of the Single Farm Payment on the area over-declared, to be offset against any payments in the following 3 calendar years.
In the case of Cross Compliance inspections, where the non-compliance is due to negligence the penalty is 3%, which can be reduced to 1% or increased to 5% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the non-compliance. Where the non-compliance is determined as intentional, the standard reduction is 20%, but this can be reduced to 15% or increased to 100% depending on the extent, severity and permanence. Where non-compliance is deemed to be minor in nature, tolerance may be applied with the applicant advised to remedy the problem. Where the minor non-compliance is not remedied within a certain period a penalty of at least 1% is applied. There are also penalty provisions where repeated non-compliance is determined.
My Department has established a Farm Advisory System under the Single Payment Scheme and I recommend that any applicant with any inspection concerns whatsoever to avail of this service, which involves Teagasc and private agricultural consultants, to allay any such concerns.
Finally, there is a comprehensive appeal system in place for applicants to avail of if they consider that the inspection has not been conducted in accordance with legislative requirements or if they are unhappy with the inspection findings. This appeal system incorporates an initial review by an officer more senior than the inspecting officer, with the option to appeal the outcome of any such review to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office. In the event that an applicant is not satisfied with the outcome of this review he/she has the right to pursue the matter further with the Office of the Ombudsman.
