Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
83. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline how his Department will operate the announced satellite inspections for the basic income support for sustainability and areas of natural constraint schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18628/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraWe know there are numerous changes coming to farm schemes this year. One of them, which has been described as the biggest one by the Minister's Department, is the change to the satellite inspections and how that will work with the new mandatory area monitoring system. Might the Minister be able to tell us a little more about how he sees that working and, particularly, the impact it will have for farmers on the ground and how they will have to engage with the new system?
As Deputy Kerrane pointed out, the new Common Agricultural Policy regulations provide for the compulsory use of the area monitoring system, AMS, in member states from 1 January of this year to monitor farming activity in respect of the new basic income support scheme and the areas of natural constraint, ANC, scheme. The use of satellite data to carry out checks is not new, as we know; it has been part of the Department's inspection programme now for over 15 years. Checks by monitoring were successfully introduced in 2021 for the protein aid scheme, whereby satellite data were used to verify protein crops for all applicants' declared parcels.
The AMS can be described as the regular and systematic observation, tracking and assessment of agricultural activities and practices on agricultural areas using what is known as Copernicus Sentinel satellite data or other data with at least equivalent value. The data will then be complemented with geotagged photographs sent in by farmers or advisers using the AgriSnap mobile phone app, if requested by my Department, as well as follow-up checks on the ground by an inspector if needed. My Department will provide up to 48 hours' notice to farmers where a ground visit is required.
For 2023, the AMS will be used to monitor basic income support, ANC protein aid and the straw incorporation measure. The AMS will interpret satellite imagery to provide the data to help the Department to make informed decisions on agricultural activity on declared land parcels, of which there are approximately 1.3 million in the country. This will be done automatically through the use of computer algorithms and will run continuously throughout the year.
Under the previous control system using on-the-spot inspections, only a small sample of farmers were selected for eligibility inspections, usually about 5%. Under the AMS now, all agricultural parcels will be subject to the monitoring process. Parcels monitored by the AMS will have colour-coded results when presented to scheme applicants: green, yellow or red. Parcels flagged by the AMS system as green or yellow will be paid on. Parcels where a potential non-compliance is detected will have a red status.
Thank you, Minister.
I will fill the Deputy in further on that in my follow-up.
It is really important that we put the details of how this is going to work out there. Geotagging, photos and apps for uploading photographs will be a minefield for a certain percentage of farmers. I understand the texts will go out to farmers from June. In some cases, farmers will get a text message from the Department to say they are in the red. Then they will have to go about getting the photograph uploaded. It is important that as much information as possible is put out there because that is going to pose difficulty for some farmers. It will be particularly problematic for hill farmers in respect of how the satellite will work and the geotagging. Even something as simple as broadband for uploading to an app could be problematic.
Along with all of the other changes that will come in, another outworking is the delay to the payment dates for this year for the basic income support for sustainability, BISS, scheme and the ANCs. That delay has been confirmed. When will those payments to farmers will be made? I presume they are a result of all the changes that are coming.
I agree with the Deputy on the importance of communicating this. I was about to highlight what would happen in the case of a red status. A red status might flag up the presence of an ineligible feature such as a house, farm or roadway. It might indicate a discrepancy in the category of agricultural area, whether it is arable land, permanent crop or permanent grassland. For example, spring barley might be declared on the application, but grassland might be identified on the AMS.
The introduction of the AMS is a significant change but there are also a number of benefits. There will be a significant reduction in the number of on-farm inspections. Farmers will also get notifications of potential errors. They will have opportunities to rectify these errors. This will lead to a reduction in the number of potential penalties. We are putting great effort into getting the message out to farmers and advisors so that they know what to expect in 2023. We will work collectively with farmers to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. There is a lot of work ongoing. The Deputy is absolutely right about its importance. On payments, every effort is being made to deliver them in the tightest timeframe possible this year.
I understand with the satellite mapping and the changes that are coming in that there will be an element of wait and see. It will be a new system for farmers and some will find it difficult in the context of the level of technology that is coming into farming anyway. Uploading photographs and all that is going to pose problems for some farmers. That is one element. Second and most important of all is the worry and fear for farmers about payment dates for this year. While they will understand and appreciate that there are new changes coming in the schemes for this year - everyone understands that - it is important that concerted pressure is put on the Department to make sure everything possible is done to make these payments at the time they are usually paid. Farmers have loans, money owed to banks, massive input costs and now more than ever they have significant costs. It is important that those payments are made on time. Everything that the Department can do needs to be done to make sure we are not seeing delays of three or four weeks to farmers getting payments that they desperately need and rely on.
It is a massive logistical challenge in the first year of a CAP. All the schemes are new, the IT system is new, it is a challenge for farmers getting up and running on it and it is also a massive logistical and organisational challenge for the Department to open all the new schemes, have them running and get the payments done. Once we get the first year over and we are into the second or third year, we will have a bit more scope to operate. It is much more difficult in the first year. That is why there has been some adjustment to the payment dates this year. It is the best we can do. We have squeezed it, pulled it and looked to do everything we could within the Department to make sure everything is done in the tightest timeframe possible. We will be one of the few member states, if not the only member state, that will deliver all these payments this year. In most other countries that are introducing a CAP programme this year, it will be next year before a lot of their payments are made. We want to deliver them all this year but it does mean that some of the payments will be a couple of weeks later than they would have been in previous years. That is the best possible timeframe we can deliver on. We have taken that decision early so we can communicate to farmers and they can prepare and know what to expect as the year goes on.
