Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 17: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the penalties imposed on the single farm payment for area discrepancies and cross compliance; if he will break down the cross compliance penalties by statutory management requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16925/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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My Department, in the context of delivering the Direct Payment Schemes, 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 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 application form corresponds to the area held by the farmer and to ensure there are no overlapping claims or duplicate claims. 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 or GAEC apply. However at least 5% of producers must be inspected under the Bovine Animal Identification and Registration requirements and 3% of sheep farmers as this level as prescribed under the relevant Regulations. In 2009, 8,700 farmers had their holdings selected for on-the-spot inspection out of some 126,000 who applied for the Single Payment Scheme - over 100,000 of these are also applicants for the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme while some 60,000 are applicants under the REPS scheme. The total value of these three schemes is in the region of €1.9 billion annually.

Some 7,455 of these inspections involved checking the eligibility of the land with 4,100 of these carried out using the technique of remote sensing. Following these checks, 1,255 applicants had their Single Payment Scheme payments reduced as a result of over-declarations. Some 800 of these were relatively minor and resulted in only a reduction to the payment with no additional penalty being recorded. In the remaining 458 cases, penalties were applied resulting in €1,101,201.95 being withheld from the payments under the relevant schemes. This represents just 0 .06% of the €1.9 billion paid out under The Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Areas' Scheme and Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS).

The EU regulations governing cross-compliance sets 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 were repeated within a 3- year period a multiplier of 3 must be applied. In the case of intentional infringement a 20% reduction is proposed but this could be reduced to 15% or increased to 100% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the infringement. EU regulations also provide that where minor cases of non-compliance are detected a tolerance may be applied provided the farmer takes remedial action to correct the situation within a given timeframe.

A total of 1,155 farmers were subject to cross-compliance penalties under the 2009 Schemes for breaches of one or more Statutory Management Requirements while a further 367 farmers, while technically in breach of the requirements, did not suffer any penalty because of the tolerance regime applied for minor non-compliance. Where a farmer is found to be non-compliant, through negligence, under more than one SMR the penalties are not accumulative – only the higher penalty is applied. The bulk of penalties applied, 484 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 292 farmers were penalised for breaches of the Statutory Management Requirements relating to identification and registration of ovine animals while 256 farmers were penalised for breaches of the Statutory Management Requirements relating to Nitrates.

To date breaches found during Cross Compliance Inspections in 2009 have resulted in a total of €472,223.84 being withheld from payments under the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Area Scheme and REPS. This represents just .03% of Ireland's national ceiling for the Single Payment Scheme of €1.3 billion.