Mr. Padraic Finnegan:

The rate of non-compliance under the scheme is not high. Organic farmers tend to be well behaved. Compared with other schemes, we do not know why we are inspected so often or why we have to pay that much for certification. It all mounts up and we barely break even under the scheme as it is structured. That is why the issue of certification urgently needs to be addressed. Double funding has hammered the small organic operator. Previously he or she could also have joined the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, but since the introduction of the double funding rule for farms of less than 20 ha, he or she cannot participate in both schemes. He or she must pick one or the other. I farm 30 ha and I am participating in both. I have to take out 10 ha to participate in the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, on which I receive no organic payment, yet I have to pay the certification bodies on the lot. I am paid on the 20 ha included in the organic scheme and the 10 ha in GLAS, yet the certification bodies are paid on the entire 30 ha, although I receive no payment. It is not structured for farmers.