Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 88: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the practical steps she is taking to address the burden of cross-compliance on farmers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4056/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Cross-compliance is an integral part of the direct payment regime following the introduction of the CAP mid-term review changes in 2005. With the extension of cross-compliance to a number of other scheme areas from this year, including the disadvantaged areas scheme and REPS, the delivery of annual payments to farmers of the order of €1.9 billion is now covered by the requirements of cross-compliance. This involves two key elements. First, a requirement for farmers to comply with 18 statutory management requirements, SMRs, set down in EU legislation on the environment, food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health. Second, a requirement to maintain the farm in good agricultural and environmental condition, GAEC.

The rate of on-farm inspection required for cross-compliance is 1% of those farmers to whom the statutory management requirements or GAEC apply. However, at least 5% of producers must be inspected under the bovine animal identification and registration requirements, as this level is prescribed under the new regulations.

My Department has published two information booklets on cross-compliance, which were issued to all farmers in early 2005 and also in August 2006. These guides have detailed the cross-compliance requirements under various EU regulations, as well as giving information on inspection controls on farms. Information on cross-compliance was also provided by my Department at various single payment scheme meetings with farmers.

In consultation with farming organisations in the context of the charter of rights for farmers, my Department has adopted a weighting system within the cross-compliance inspection regime whereby due account is taken of infringements of the cross-compliance requirements which are, on their own, inadvertent and minor in nature, do not result from negligence of the farmer and are capable of occurring in practical farming situations. In such circumstances, a certain level of tolerance is applied while, at the same time, the farmer is notified of the infringement. The system that has been developed also ensures that any penalties are applied in a standardised fashion throughout the country. It should be noted that while 1,389 farmers were subject to cross-compliance penalties under the 2006 single payment scheme, a further 977 farmers, while technically in breach of the requirements, did not suffer any penalty because of the tolerance regime applied by my Department. Breaches of cross-compliance in 2006 resulted in some €706,000 being withheld from farmers by way of penalties representing 0.05% of Ireland's national ceiling of €1.3 billion.

The vast bulk of penalties applied were for breaches of rules on the identification and registration of bovine animals — for example, tagging and registration of births, movements and deaths.

Further consultations will now take place with the farming organisations on arrangements for inspections under the new SMRs that have come on stream for 2007. I am committed to ensuring the maximum level of integration of inspections across all areas, including inspections under the disadvantaged areas scheme. On this basis, the overall number of annual inspections under the single payment scheme and the disadvantaged areas scheme is unlikely to exceed 8,000. This is a significant reduction from the 18,000 inspections annually under the old coupled regime.

The policy of my Department towards on-farm inspections has been to give advance notification of up to 48 hours. However, this was unacceptable to the European Commission and my Department was obliged to perform a number of inspections without prior notification in 2006. The vast bulk of inspections — some 92% of the total farms selected for single payment scheme/ disadvantaged areas scheme inspection in 2006 — were all pre-notified to the farmer.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

EU regulations governing the single payment scheme would allow my Department to give pre-notification of inspection in all cases where certain elements of cross-compliance are involved, for example, the nitrates regulations. However, my Department is committed, in the Charter of Rights for Farmers 2005-07, to carrying out all single payment scheme and disadvantaged area scheme checks during one single farm visit in most cases. This obliges my Department to respect the advance notice requirements applicable to the most stringent element of the inspection regime, namely, a maximum of 48 hours notice but with no advance notice in a proportion of cases.

My Department is in regular contact with the European Commission with a view to simplification of single payment scheme requirements with particular reference to advance notice of inspections and tolerances. The Commission's initiative on simplification of the CAP and the review of cross-compliance which is under way provides the opportunity for a fresh look at cross-compliance and other single payment scheme issues. I am pressing for this, both in direct contact with Commissioner Fischer Boel and the President of the Council, Minister Seehofer. I raised the matter at the Council on Monday of last week where several member states had similar problems to ours. It is not surprising then that simplification of the CAP and the cross-compliance regime in particular are core issues for the current German EU Presidency.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Many farmers are currently living in fear of cross-compliance inspections. As a result, some farmers are literally packing it in and reducing numbers. I will give the Minister an example. This morning, I met with farmers on the Offaly-Westmeath border. They told me that when 70 farmers recently held a meeting about the development of an airport in County Offaly, there was only one objector. Five years ago, some 90% of farmers would have objected to such a development but the situation has changed because farmers want to get out of farming. The Minister will be going to Brussels to try to overturn what she and her predecessor agreed at EU level. Commissioner Fischer Boel has been quoted extensively as saying there is no justification for no-notice inspections. Is it not the case that her German counterpart automatically gives notice to all farmers and that where standards of milk production meet basic quality requirements, no dairy inspections take place? The reality is that we have a different set of rules here than that proposed by the Commission or that being implemented in other countries. On that basis, will the Minister review the lack of notification with regard to inspections?

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's suggestion that we have instilled fear in farmers throughout the country is not true.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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It is the position on the ground.

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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To have people like the Deputy raising harum-scarum ideas can instill fear in farmers. Since I was first appointed, I have implored the former Commissioner, Commissioner Fischler, and Commissioner Fischer Boel that we should have pre-notification. The impression given by the media did not reflect what the Commissioner said in Germany. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith, discussed the issue with her at Green Week, and I followed on from that meeting last Monday week at European Council level.

The view among all of our colleagues is that the issue of cross-compliance needs to be simplified, which is what the President would like to achieve before the end of his term — I met him last year to discuss this. I will be vociferous in putting forward a number of issues within the cross-compliance sector that I would like to see addressed. The Commissioner has indicated she will bring forward proposals in March to take on board a number of the concerns expressed by all member states.

It is important to note that Ireland was the first country, on the basis of decoupling, to feel the factors arising from cross-compliance, but these are now being experienced in other member states. It is on that basis that we can gather greater momentum. However, it is incorrect to suggest we are trying to change what we agreed. Rather, we are trying to refine the system and I assure farmers my goal is to ensure there is pre-notification of inspections. There are a number of other issues within the cross-compliance criteria that I would like raised and addressed in the context of what the Commissioner will put forward in March and the health check of 2008.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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The Minister promised to issue all farmers with a copy of the checklist the Department of Agriculture and Food will use. It was not issued for the 2006 inspections. When will it be issued to farmers? If a person brings a car for an NCT, it is known what conditions and checks are required before the vehicle is brought in.

Will the Minister ensure that when an inspector carries out an on-farm inspection, the farmer gets a copy of the report on the day and does not have to wait for it? When will farmers get clear and unambiguous information with regard to the requirements under cross-compliance? A number of public meetings have taken place where representatives of the Department and of Teagasc have contradicted each other. There is serious confusion among the Department's inspectors with regard to the interpretation of the rules and regulations under cross-compliance. How are farmers supposed to understand the rules and regulations when the officials cannot decipher them?

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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First, the checklist will be made available prior to the inspections this year.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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When?

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Prior to inspections this year. Second, a copy of the inspection report was made available during the inspections in 2006 and, in any case, the farming organisations have had a copy of the checklist for a considerable period as I made it available to them prior to negotiations. Third, Dr. Noel Cawley has been appointed by me to oversee a number of the issues on cross-compliance, most particularly the farmers' charter. It is my intention to take his advice on board.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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We must proceed to the next question.

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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We had this discussion during the last Question Time for the Department. The Deputy will note from an agreement between Teagasc and my Department that there is absolute clarity on the matter.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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It is the same story.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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We must move to Question No. 89.

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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It may not necessarily be what Deputy Naughten likes to hear but I am duty bound to ensure that farmers are within the frameworks of entitlements and eligibility.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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We must proceed to Question No. 89.

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I will provide further information for farmers during the spring, early summer and autumn on the context of other aspects of cross-compliance that come to fruition in 2007.

Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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When will they get the checklist? We need a date.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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It will be another 32 pages.