Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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363. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether farm inspections should be more advisory rather than penalising as the prospect of inspections are causing great stress to the farming community; if he will allow farmers time to correct problems that arise before the imposition of penalties. [48097/13]

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 based schemes is required to carry out an annual round of inspections covering both the eligibility of the land declared to draw down payments and also cross compliance aspects, to ensure compliance with EU regulatory requirements in the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare and ensuring that the land is maintained in good agricultural and environment condition. These mandatory inspections are governed by EU legislation and there are certain minimum numbers and types of inspections that must take place annually.

These inspections are a necessary requirement to drawn down approximately €1.7 billion of EU funds annually and to avoid EU disallowances. My Department must therefore ensure that these inspections are conducted in full accordance with the legislative provisions.

EU regulations governing these inspections prescribe a range of reductions and penalties to be applied where an over-declaration in area has been found at an Eligibility inspection and/or where non-compliance under the Cross Compliance regime has been identified at inspection.

In the case of Eligibility inspections, a tiered rate of reduction applies:

- Difference of less than 3% or 2 ha - Aid reduced to reflect lower eligible area;

- Difference >3%, but < 20% - Aid based on lower eligible area reduced by twice the difference between the area determined and the area claimed (or entitlements held if lower);

- Difference > 20%, but < 50 % - No payment for Scheme year;

- Difference > 50% - No payment for Scheme year and a Multi-Annual sanction based on the value of the Single Farm Payment on the area over-declared, to be offset against any payments in the following 3 calendar years.

In the case of Cross Compliance inspections, where the non-compliance is due to negligence the penalty is 3%, which can be reduced to 1% or increased to 5% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the non-compliance. Where the non-compliance is determined as intentional, the standard reduction is 20%, but this can be reduced to 15% or increased to 100% depending on the extent, severity and permanence. Where non-compliance is deemed to be minor in nature, tolerance may be applied with the applicant advised to remedy the problem. Where the minor non-compliance is not remedied within a certain period a penalty of at least 1% is applied. There are also penalty provisions where repeated non-compliance is determined.

My Department has established a Farm Advisory System under the Single Payment Scheme and I recommend that any applicant with any inspection concerns whatsoever to avail of this service, which involves Teagasc and private agricultural consultants, to allay any such concerns.

Finally, there is a comprehensive appeal system in place for applicants to avail of if they consider that the inspection has not been conducted in accordance with legislative requirements or if they are unhappy with the inspection findings. This appeal system incorporates an initial review by an officer more senior than the inspecting officer, with the option to appeal the outcome of any such review to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office. In the event that an applicant is not satisfied with the outcome of this review he/she has the right to pursue the matter further with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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364. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that members of staff were selectively applying eligibility penalties to land in County Galway until it was discovered at an inspection (details supplied) that this was incorrect procedure resulting in a staff briefing for all staff on the 6 July 2011 in Galway;if he will confirm if only a GAEC penalty could apply in such circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48098/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In the context of delivering the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Areas' Scheme and other area based schemes, DAFM is required under the SPS implementing legislation to carry out an annual round of inspections covering both the eligibility of the land declared to draw down payments and also cross compliance requirements, to ensure compliance with EU regulatory requirements in the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare. These inspections are mandatory for each Member State.

Land eligibility checks must be carried out on at least 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 or features are not included for aid purposes. In respect of each hectare declared, the eligible area excludes any areas under roads, paths, buildings, farmyards, woods, scrub, rivers, streams, ponds, lakes, sand, areas of bare rock, boglands unfit for grazing, sand/gravel pits, areas used for quarrying, inaccessible areas, areas used as sports fields, golf courses, pitch and putt courses. Deductions are not required for headlands or for landscape features such as hedgerows and drains/ditches. There must be evidence of a sufficient agricultural activity being conducted throughout the parcel. Unused or fenced off parts of a parcel may be ineligible.

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. These inspections are necessary to verify that the cross compliance objectives are being met.

Annually approximately €1.2 billion euro is paid out to applicant farmers in SPS payments. My Department under the legislation is obliged to ensure the accurate disbursement of all community funds. It conducts this through a robust inspection system. An ongoing EU audit system is in place which includes the Certifying Body, the Commission and the Court of Auditors to ensure the veracity of all payments. All staff are regularly trained on how to conduct these inspections. This training is based on the implementing legislation, audit findings and the latest clarifications from the Commission.

All applicants for SPS payments are further protected by the comprehensive appeal process in place. An applicant who may consider that an inspection has not been properly conducted may appeal. This appeal process includes a number of possible steps to ensure fairness. An applicant may appeal to the local district supervisor in the first instance. Should he not be satisfied he can then appeal to the independent appeals office. Failing this he can appeal to the ombudsman’s office or take the matter to the courts.

The meeting on the 6^th of July 2011 was a normal internal meeting of staff following on from a file checking review and did not include any reference to the applicant in question. A letter dated 13th December 2011 issued to the person named outlining the outcome of this inspection. If the person named wishes to seek a review of any aspect of the inspection, as mentioned above, he should do so to the local district supervisor in the first instance clearly outlining the grounds of his appeal.