Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My question is as simple as this. Cross-compliance inspections are done in 1% of farms. That is the figure Mr. O'Driscoll read out. It amounts to 1,368, and 38% of these had fines. Does Europe not say to the Department that the figure should be extrapolated to everywhere else?

In the other area there is a 5% inspection figure. The Department does 5,000 or 6,000 inspections and finds fines in those areas. Does Europe not decide that if it is in the 5% the Department picked, then, logic would suggest, it is in the remainder in similar proportions, unless the Department can prove otherwise? I simply want to know where the connection lies. Surely the people in Europe cannot be so stupid as to say they will only take the fines for the 5% the Department examined and ignore the other 95%. That is the connection I do not get.