Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 18: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will reconsider new livestock inspection in order that they will be more farmer friendly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14640/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

My Department, in the context of delivering the Direct Payments Schemes is required to carry out annual inspections covering land eligibility and cross compliance to ensure compliance with EU regulatory requirements.

Eligibility checks must be carried out on 5% of applicants. These checks are carried out to verify that the actual area claimed in the application form corresponds to the area farmed by the farmer and to ensure that any ineligible land/features are deducted. Up to two-thirds of these inspections are carried out without a farm visit as the information is verified using the technique of remote sensing via satellite.

The rate of inspections for cross-compliance is 1% of applicants to whom the Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) and Good Agricultural Condition (GAEC) apply. However, 3% of farmers must be inspected under the bovine identification and registration requirements while 3% of sheep/goat farmers must be inspected covering 5% of the flock.

EU regulations specify the types of checks that must be carried out in checking compliance with the cattle and sheep identification and registration requirements. For example, my Department must ensure that all animals are properly tagged, that correct passports are held for bovine animals and that all movements of animals are correctly recorded on the Department's database.

Since 2007 EU Regulation permitted the checking of a representative sample of sheep subject to certain criteria and this option was extended to cattle from 2011. My Department's officials will carry out the required checks on this basis, where the criteria have been met.

My Department has, where possible, minimised the inconvenience to farmers by using technology and reduced sample sizes for identification. It should also be remembered the value of these schemes to Irish farmers is €1.8bn annually. It is therefore incumbent on my Department to ensure that the regulatory control environment is comprehensively implemented to avoid EU disallowances.