Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 216: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of farmers here who were penalised by inspectors from her Department for breaches in farm regulation; the nature and amount of those penalties; and the reason given for same. [2620/07]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 217: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the number of field inspectors working for her Department; the number of farmers nationwide registered with her Department to be inspected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2621/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together.

The position is that my Department, 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 under the Scheme, compliance with EU legislation in the areas of 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 are required to be inspected under the eligibility rule. These checks are carried out to verify that the actual area claimed in the Single Payment Scheme application form corresponds to the area held by the farmer and to ensure there are no overlapping claims, or duplicate claims. These checks are also designed to confirm that the lands declared for set-aside purposes are maintained in accordance with the provisions of the EU Regulations and that the set-aside obligations are observed. They are also necessary to verify that the land used to draw down entitlements does not contain land used for fruit and vegetable production, land used for potatoes or land in forestry or other permanent crops in the year of application for the Single Payment. Up to two-thirds of these inspections are carried out without a farm visit and 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 and environmental condition 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 relevant Regulations.

In 2006, 7514 farmers have had their holdings selected for on-the-spot inspection out of some 130,000 who applied for the Single Payment Scheme — over 100,000 of these are also applicants for the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (DAS) and 5% of applicants under this scheme must also be inspected. The DAS inspections are, as far as possible, integrated with the inspections under the Single Payment Scheme. The total value of both schemes to Irish farmers is some €1.55 billion in 2006. All inspections are carried out by 124 Technical Agricultural Officers.

The EU regulations governing cross- compliance set out a range of percentage reductions for non-compliance. Where non-compliance results from negligence on behalf of 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 3-year period, a multiplier 3 must be applied. In the case of intentional infringement a 20% reduction is provided for but this can be reduced to 15% or increased to 100% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the infringement.

In determining whether a farmer is in breach of cross-compliance, my Department takes due account of infringements that are, on their own, inadvertent, 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. In this regard my Department 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.

A total of 1,389 farmers were subject to cross-compliance penalties under the 2006 Single Payment Scheme while 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.

Where a farmer is found to be non-compliant, through negligence, under more than one of the Statutory Management Requirements, the penalties are not accumulated — only the higher penalty is applied.

The vast bulk of penalties applied (1,109 farmers) were for breaches of the rules relating to the identification and registration of bovine animals i.e. tagging, registration and notification of movements and deaths. A further 280 farmers were penalised for breaches of other Statutory Management Requirements relating to Groundwater, Nitrates, Pesticides, Food Hygiene and good agricultural and environmental condition (GAEC).

Breaches found during Cross Compliance Inspections in 2006 resulted in a total of €706,203.38 being stopped in penalties. This represents just 0.05% of Ireland's national ceiling of €1.3 billion.