Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 730: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she will ensure that no farm inspection will take place without at least 48 hours prior notice; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10285/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The policy towards on-farm inspection has been to give advance notification of up to 48 hours in all cases. This policy of systematic pre-announcement of inspections was questioned by the European Commission in July 2006 and its unacceptability was conveyed to my Department in a formal communication in August. As a result my Department was obliged to agree to a proportion of Single Payment Scheme inspections being carried out in 2006 without prior notification. Some 650 farms out of 130,000 involved in the Single Payment Scheme were subsequently selected for unannounced inspection. The balance of inspection cases, representing some 92% of the 7,514 farms selected for Single Payment Scheme/Disadvantaged Areas Scheme inspection in 2006, were all pre-notified to the farmer.

The 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 e.g. the Nitrates Regulations. 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 one 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 viz. maximum of 48 hours notice but with no advance notice in a proportion of cases.

My Department believes that pre-notification 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 the EU regulations stand, my Department is obliged to carry out a proportion of inspections without prior notification and this is what was done in 2006. My Department is seeking authority to allow advance notification in all inspection cases and I will continue to press this point in the CAP simplification process.

The Commission is at an advanced stage in finalising a review document on cross-compliance. The review will include the question of advance notice of inspections. In tandem with this, my Department is carrying out a full review of the inspection arrangements and checklists for the Single Payment Scheme with a view to simplification of the arrangements (including paperwork) where possible while, at the same time, ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements. The review of the inspection report forms together with the outcome of the Commission's review of the cross-compliance arrangements generally, will be fully discussed with the farming organisations before the Single Payment Scheme inspections for 2007 get underway.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 731: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she will re-examine the method of dairy farm inspection and rebalance the inspection emphasis on the quality of the milk received at the co-operative as opposed to the current regime which involves many hours on the farm; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10286/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that my Department is carrying out a full review of the inspection arrangements (including those in the dairying area) and checklists for the Single Payment Scheme with a view to simplification of the arrangements (including paperwork) where possible while, at the same time, ensuring compliance with the regulatory requirements. The review of the inspection report forms together with the outcome of the Commission's review of the cross-compliance arrangements generally, will be fully discussed with the farming organisations before the Single Payment Scheme inspections for 2007 get underway.

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 732: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she will place a time limit on the time spent by her officials on a farm to half a day; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10287/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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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 (GAEC).

A minimum of 5% of Single Payment Scheme applicants are required to be inspected under the eligibility rule. 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 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 relevant Regulations.

The position is that under the Charter of Rights for Farmers, my Department is committed to ensuring the maximum level of integration of inspections across all areas including inspections under the Single Payment Scheme and the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme. This integration means that control checks are carried out in relation to eligibility of land declared, identification and registration of animals on the holding, and compliance with the other 18 Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) under cross-compliance in one farm visit. On this basis, the overall number of annual inspections associated with the Single Payment Scheme is unlikely to exceed 7,200. This is a very significant reduction from the 18,000 inspections annually under the old coupled regime.

This approach minimises the level of inconvenience to farmers. However, because of the integration of all inspections associated with the Single Payment Scheme, it is not possible to prescribe specific time limits for the completion of such inspections as the number of issues to be checked varies from farm to farm.