Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 446: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if, in the context of on-farm inspections under the good farming practice code, farmers who have underclaimed their land area will be penalised; if silage bales stacked out in a field constitutes a penalty; the way in which missing eartags will be dealt with; the type of time allocation made available for such inspections; if it is necessary for the farmer to be present for such on-farm inspections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30035/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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No penalty will be applied for under-declaration of land under the single payment scheme unless a full parcel of land has been omitted. Even then, if the area of the parcel omitted is less than 3% of the total area declared, no penalty will be applied. Where the area of the land parcels under-declared amounts to between 3% and 20% of the total area declared, a penalty of 1% will be applied to the payment. Where the area of the land parcels under-declared amounts to between 20% and 50% of the total area declared, a penalty of 2% will be applied to the payment. Where the area of the land parcels under-declared amounts to over 50% of the total area declared, a penalty of 3% will be applied. To use payment entitlements in full, an applicant must declare one hectare of land for each payment entitlement.

The stacking of silage bales in a field will not in itself give rise to a penalty provided there is no danger of leaching into nearby watercourses. With regard to missing eartags, my Department applies a tolerance in such cases depending on herd size with a view to ensuring that minor non-compliance will not give rise to any financial sanction. The European Commission has conducted a preliminary audit of the cross-compliance system adopted in Ireland. My Department awaits a final report from the Commission auditors and confirmation that it regards the framework for the application of cross-compliance in Ireland as fully meeting the EU requirements.

In so far as the time taken to carry out inspections is concerned, the position is that much depends on the number of measures that must be checked on individual farms selected for inspection on the basis of risk analysis. The regulations governing the single payment scheme require that 5% of applicants be inspected in respect of the eligibility of the land area declared. Furthermore, it is necessary to inspect at least 1% of single payment scheme applicants under the various statutory management requirements and good agricultural and environmental condition that constitute cross-compliance with the exception of identification and registration of bovine animals where at least 5% of applicants must be inspected.

To minimise the level of inconvenience to farmers, it has been decided to integrate inspections to the maximum extent possible thus ensuring, as far as possible, that there will be only one visit to each farm selected. The result of this integration is that one measure will be checked on approximately 3,000 farms, two measures on approximately 3,000 farms, three measures in approximately 2,000 farms, four measures on approximately 500 farms, five measures on approximately 100 farms, six measures on approximately 20 farms and seven measures on approximately five farms. Inspections under the area-based compensatory allowance scheme in disadvantaged areas are also integrated into the single payment scheme inspections. On this basis my Department estimates that, in all, fewer than 10,000 farmers will be inspected annually under the single payment scheme. This represents a reduction of some 50% in the number of inspections when compared with the old coupled regime.

In general, advance notice of 48 hours is given to farmers selected for inspection. Where the farmer is unable to be present at the inspection he or she can make arrangements to have somebody represent him or her.