Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith. The previous matter related to a lack of clean water and this matter has a lot to do with the excess of soiled water.

I have been involved in the family farm for 37 years, first with my father and brother and subsequently with just my brother. A number of inspections have taken place in connection with various schemes, in addition to TB and brucellosis tests. Not only do I not have any complaint against the way in which those various tests were conducted, or against departmental officials, I would go so far as to praise the smooth interaction that took place. As far as I know, the same is true of my father's experience for the 30 years previous to that. Anything I have to say does not have any personal reference.

One of the advantages of the introduction of the single farm payment was that it would lead to a reduction in the level of bureaucracy, form filling, etc. We hope that will be the case. There have been some difficulties in negotiating the precise, correct format for introducing the nitrates directive but, happily, an agreed solution was eventually arrived at by the interested parties. We are now implementing that, unfortunately, against a background of fairly exceptional weather conditions which have resulted in there being a good deal more water than usual flowing into various tanks.

Some cases may have occurred but, as much as anything else, certain fears exist about the implementation of the directive. A letter that appeared in the Irish Examiner referred to unannounced farm inspections being carried out where inspectors arrive with a checklist of 1,450 items. For all I know, a Dublin Bus driver has a rule book containing 1,450 rules and one can wonder how he or she is ever able to set out with the bus. The experience of the vast majority of farmers is that inspectors operate pragmatically. Of course they are on the look-out for breaches of environmental standards. I accept the Department has the difficulty of dealing with the EU Commission at its back, which gets very concerned because reports emerge in other countries about abuse of schemes etc. which generate bad publicity.

In many ways, the NCT test provides a good model because it encourages compliance among car owners. If faults are found, one is given an opportunity to correct them and to return for a limited inspection of those points. If a significant number of faults have been identified, one may have to undergo the complete process again. Most farmers operate within fairly limited income margins and they are not easily able to accommodate large fines. If a fault is found, people should be given an opportunity to correct them and, in the case of a more fundamental infringement being identified, it may be possible to withhold a portion of a payment until the situation is resolved, rather than drastically docking farmers' incomes in a way they can ill afford.

The specific problem in hand relates to the interpretation of the regulations at a time when slurry tanks are overflowing due to weather conditions. One can well ask what is soiled water and what is slurry. Some farmers are under extreme pressure to address the problem of slurry tanks that have reached full capacity. Intelligent pragmatism is required. Investment may be required for the improvement of facilities. The Department operates generous schemes which I accept cannot always be carried out overnight. Regard must also be had to the basic economics of the operation.

I raise this issue because of acute pressures on farmers as a result of current weather conditions. Pragmatism is required in applying the rules and regulations to allow farmers reasonably conform with environmental best practice. The Department, where necessary, must allow a little margin and not be so afraid of those sitting at their desks in the Berlaymont building.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Mansergh for raising this important issue. I am aware he has raised the matter directly with the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan.

The Department of Agriculture and Food, in the context of delivering the single payment scheme, is required to carry out on-the-spot inspections on a number of farms covering such issues as eligibility, compliance with EU legislation on the environment, food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health and ensuring that the farm is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition.

A minimum of 5% of single payment scheme applicants is required to be inspected under the eligibility rule. Up to two-thirds of these inspections are carried out without a farm visit, using the technique of remote sensing. The rate of on-farm inspection required for cross-compliance is 1% of those farmers to whom the statutory management requirements, including the nitrates directive, or good agricultural environmental conditions apply. However, at least 5% of producers must be inspected under the bovine animal identification and registration requirements as prescribed under the relevant regulations.

Of the 130,000 farmers who applied for the single payment scheme this year, 8,200 have had their holdings selected for on-the-spot inspection. Almost 100,000 of these are also applicants for the disadvantaged areas scheme. The value of both schemes to Irish farmers in 2006 is €1.55 billion. The policy regarding on-farm inspection has been to give advance notification of up to 48 hours in all cases. This policy was questioned by the European Commission in July 2006 and as a result the Department was obliged to agree to a proportion of single payment scheme inspections in 2006 being carried out without prior notification.

Some 650 farms of the 130,000 involved in the single payment scheme were subsequently selected for unannounced inspection. The balance of inspection cases, representing 92% of the 8,200 farms selected for single payment scheme-disadvantaged areas scheme inspection in 2006, are pre-notified to the farmer.

The EU regulations governing the single payment scheme would allow my Department to give prenotification of inspection in all cases where certain elements of cross-compliance are involved, namely, the nitrates regulations as referred to by Senator Mansergh. However, my Department is committed, in the Charter of Rights for Farmers 2005-2007, to carrying out all single payment scheme and disadvantaged area scheme checks during a single farm visit in most cases. This then 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.

The Department of Agriculture and Food is also committed in the charter of rights to pursuing with the European Commission a strategy to deliver advance notification of 14 days for inspections, a strategy strongly supported by Senator Mansergh. The matter has been raised with the Commission on a number of occasions since 2004, particularly in the context of the Irish situation where we are applying a fully decoupled and essentially area-dependent single payment scheme. I personally made the case again recently to Commissioner Fischer Boel and this issue is a key point for me in the CAP simplification initiative which is now under way. I assure Senator Mansergh and Members of the Seanad that the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, has consistently raised this issue with the Agriculture Commissioner. In the past few weeks the Minister travelled to Germany to meet with the German Minister, who will assume responsibility for the Council during the first six months of next year, in regard to advancing the simplification model. This issue is top of the Minister's agenda. It is being pursued at every opportunity at Council of Agriculture Ministers level and with fellow agriculture Ministers in the other 24 member states.

The prenotification of single payment scheme-disadvantaged areas scheme inspections fits in with the practicalities of Irish agriculture where increasingly farmers are also engaged in off-farm employment. In a decoupled single payment scheme system, the provision of advance notification of inspection to the farmer should not negatively impact on the effectiveness of the control. However, as EU regulations stand, my Department is obliged to carry out a small proportion of inspections without prior notification and this is being done in 2006. I have made available to the farm organisations and those farmers being inspected the checklist of items to be inspected. I propose to send it to all farmers early in 2007.

Regarding sanctions, the EU regulations set out a range of percentage reductions for non- compliance. Where the non-compliance results from negligence by the farmer, a 3% reduction may be applied but this can be reduced to 1% or increased to 5% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the infringement. If the non-compliance is repeated within a three-year period, a multiplier of 3 must be applied. A 20% reduction is proposed where intentional infringement occurs but this can be reduced to 15% or increased to 100% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the infringement.

The crucial element in the regulation is that, for a sanction to be applied in the first place, the non-compliance must result from negligence by the farmer. My Department, therefore, takes due account of infringements of the cross-compliance requirements that are, on their own, inadvertent and minor in nature and do not result from negligence of the farmer and are capable of occurring in practical farming situations. This refers to Senator Mansergh's final comments in regard to compliance and the NCT system. In such circumstances a certain level of tolerance is applied while, at the same time, the farmer is notified of the infringement. Some 1,127 farmers who were technically non-compliant during 2005 did not incur any financial penalty as a result of this tolerance. I am sure those figures will re-assure Senator Mansergh in terms of the operation of the scheme.

Ireland has adopted a weighting system that results in fair and equitable sanctions under cross-compliance. The system that has been developed also ensures that the sanctions are applied in a standardised fashion throughout the country. I trust my reply deals with the various raised by Senator Mansergh.

Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his helpful and reassuring reply both in regard to the relatively small nature of the reductions except in severe cases of infringement and equally the reassurance — which would have been my experience in the past — that a certain level of tolerance is applied, which is all I seek. I understand the Department is working hard on the exact definitions of soiled water and slurry as they apply to the nitrates directive regulations. Many farmers are under greater pressure than they would normally be at this time of year.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for his comments. At a meeting as recently as yesterday the Senator had an opportunity to raise with the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, and me the concerns of some farmers regarding the issue of soiled water and the particular problems that have arisen due to the level of rainfall this autumn. The Department is working hard to bring about a resolution and to allay the fears of some members of the farming community.