Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a breakdown of the number of farm inspections carried out in County Kerry between June 2009 to June 2010, June 2010 to June 2011 and June 2011 to June 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51242/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department, in the context of delivering the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Areas’ Scheme and other area related 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, to verify that the actual area claimed in the application form corresponds to the area farmed and to ensure that any ineligible land/features are deducted. Up to two-thirds of these inspections are carried out in the first instance without a farm visit, as the information is verified using the technique of remote sensing via satellite.

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

In 2010, in an effort to minimise duplication of farm inspections between the two Departments, my Department agreed to carry out some 1,600 nitrates inspections under the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) regulations on behalf of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG). This arrangement was retained for both 2011 and 2012.

My Department is committed to ensuring the maximum level of integration of inspections and will continue to review inspection programmes in all areas with the aim of increasing integration, where this is a feasible option.

Set out in tabular form is the overall number of farm inspections, including remote sensing inspections, carried out in Co Kerry under the main areas based schemes, [i.e. Single Payment Scheme (SPS) and Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (DAS), Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) and Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS)] and also those undertaken on behalf of DECLG, broken down for the periods requested: