Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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146. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of land eligibility inspections carried out for single farm payments in the years 2010, 2011, 2012, and to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51220/13]

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 related 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 adherence with EU regulatory requirements in the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare and ensuring that the farm is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition. The basis for these inspections is governed by EU legislation and there are certain minimum number and types of inspections that must be conducted each year.

Land eligibility inspections 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. My Department has made every effort to respond to concerns about the impact of on-the-ground inspections on farmers and arising from this around 75% of these inspections are carried out in the first instance without the need for a farm visit, as the information needed is acquired using the technique of remote sensing via satellite. The following table details the number of holdings subject to land eligibility inspections in the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 (to-date).

Processing of 2013 inspections to finalisation is ongoing, with the intention of issuing any payments due as soon as possible.