Mary Wallace (Meath, Fianna Fail)

The introduction of the single payment scheme and my Department's commitment to the farm bodies to ensure maximum integration of inspections across schemes and for cross-compliance has resulted in a drop in annual farm inspection levels from 18,000 under the coupled regime to less than 8,000 in 2006. I agree the inspection requirements linked to cross-compliance are complex and I am committed to negotiating significant changes in the context of the simplification exercise which is currently under way in the Commission. It needs to be made clear that the inspection checklist on cross-compliance should be completed by the departmental inspector, not the farmer.

It is important also to bear in mind that the controls under the various direct payment schemes are detailed in EU regulations. Failure to ensure a satisfactory control environment leaves a member state open to serious financial penalty — a fact that cannot be lightly dismissed given the magnitude of annual payments of €1.9 billion to Irish farmers under the single payment scheme, the disadvantaged areas scheme and REPS. Nonetheless, we believe the cross-compliance inspection requirements are overly demanding on farmers. It is our clearly held view that some practical amendments can be secured without, in any way, undermining the objectives of cross-compliance or putting accountability in the disbursement of EU and national funds at risk.

As we have made clear, the Minister has raised our concerns about the single payment scheme, particularly the inspection arrangements, and the need for advance notice with Commissioner Fischer Boel on a number of occasions. She has also discussed the problems with the German President of the Agriculture Council and we are assured of his commitment in dealing with the issues over the next few months. The Minister discussed her concerns when in Paris last weekend at the international agriculture show with her German and French counterparts and impressed on them the need to lessen the burden of bureaucracy on farmers in the simplification process now under way.

The Commission is at an advanced stage in finalising a review document on cross-compliance. We expect this to be cleared through the Commission before the end of March and it will then go to the Agriculture Council for discussion in April. With the commitment of the Presidency to progressing the dossier speedily, we are hopeful changes can be agreed in time to apply to the 2007 inspection arrangements.

In tandem with this, our Department is carrying out a full review of the inspection arrangements and checklists for the single payment scheme with a view to simplification of the arrangements, including the paperwork, where possible, while at the same time ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements. The review of the inspection report forms, together with the outcome of the Commission's review of the cross-compliance arrangements generally, will be fully discussed with the farming organisations before the single payment scheme inspections for 2007 get under way. The full details of the Department's 2007 inspection arrangements will also be sent to all farmers in advance of the inspections.

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