Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 459: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food when she will implement a more user friendly farm inspection scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7623/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to ensuring the maximum level of integration of farm inspections across all areas including inspections for farmers participating in the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. On this basis, the overall number of annual inspections associated with the Single Payment Scheme and Disadvantaged Areas Scheme is unlikely to exceed 8,000. This is a very significant reduction from the 18,000 inspections annually under the old coupled regime.

My Department is carrying out a full review of the inspection arrangements for the Single Payment Scheme and the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme before finalising the report forms and checklists for 2007. The review will also involve consultation with the farm bodies and this process will commence as soon as possible.

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. I believe that the initiative by the Commission 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 certainly 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 recently 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 Presidency of the EU.