Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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190. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a farm inspection report is void without the signature of the landowner; if an inspection report is available to farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19414/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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EU Regulations governing the Direct Payment Schemes and other area-based schemes requires my Department to carry out on-the-spot checks on a number of farms covering such issues as eligibility under the schemes and compliance with Cross Compliance requirements, as set down in EU legislation, and the standards for Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC). These inspections are mandatory and there are certain numbers and types that must take place annually. The governing regulations prescribe that for eligibility inspections a control report must be completed for every inspection. The regulations also state that the farmer shall be given the opportunity to sign the report during the check to attest his presence at the check and to add observations. A farmer does not have to sign the report and the lack of a signature does not diminish the report. Where irregularities are identified at the inspection the farmer must receive a copy of the control report.

In the case of Cross Compliance inspections, the regulations state that a control report must be completed for every inspection. In addition, the regulations prescribe that the farmer must be informed of any non-compliance determined at the inspection. It is not a regulatory requirement, for Cross Compliance inspections, that the farmer be given the opportunity to sign the control report.