Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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92. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied with the level of qualification and expertise of his Department's inspectors, with regard to carrying out eligibility inspections on Natura designated commonages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18927/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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EU Regulations governing the Direct Payments Schemes and other area-based schemes requires my Department to ensure that all eligibility requirements are complied with. The regulations require that a minimum of 5% of applicants must be inspected each year to ensure that the land declared for aid, including commonage type land, is eligible for payment. My Department has a dedicated Inspection Unit to undertake these inspections. This unit interprets the governing EU regulations as they relate to inspection requirements and implements an inspection process to meet these requirements. The inspections are subject to repeated audits by the European Commission and European Court of Auditors which ensures an independent verification that inspections are conducted in full compliance with the legal requirements. The inspection process has been amended over the years to reflect changes in the governing regulations and also to reflect comments and findings contained in the various audit reports.

Inspecting officers in my Department are regularly trained in inspection procedures, with a process of continuous oversight by supervisors and random verification inspections to ensure a consistent approach. In addition, the Inspection Unit participates fully at various meetings and workshops organised by the European Commission on all inspection requirements, including land eligibility matters related to the Birds and Habitats Directives, where Commission experts and experts from other EU member states share their knowledge. In this way the Inspection Unit has and continues to build up extensive corporate knowledge on inspection requirements. This ensures that the EU regulatory requirements are being fully met and also that the training of the inspecting officers on inspection procedures is kept up-to-date.