Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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59. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the input his Department will have into the European Court of Auditors audit on animal welfare measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46932/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The European Court of Auditors (ECA) mission is to contribute to improving the European Union's (EU) financial management, promote accountability and transparency and act as the independent guardian of the financial interests of the citizens of the Union. The ECA’s role as the EU’s independent external auditor is to check that EU funds are correctly accounted for, are raised and spent in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations and have achieved value for money.

As an independent auditor, the ECA must remain separate from the influence of any Member State. It selects specific tasks at its own discretion and formulates its audit plan on the basis of criteria such as public interest, risk of irregularity or poor performance and potential for improvement. The ECA has recently made the decision to examine whether Member States have made effective contributions to the European Union’s animal welfare objectives and whether compliance has been achieved with animal welfare legislation.

It is proposed that five countries - Germany, France, Romania, Italy and Poland - be assessed in this current programme, with audit reports from the ECA expected to issue in late 2018 . These inspections will focus specifically on policies relating to farm animals, with scrutiny to be applied not only to on-farm conditions but also to other important components of the industry such as transport and slaughter.

The European Union has always ensured that animal welfare issues are assigned the highest priority. It has reinforced policy objectives with significant Rural Development contributions under the Common Agricultural Policy, which will contribute €1.5 billion to animal welfare payments from 2014 to 2020.  This proposed ECA audit plan is an important development and displays both to worldwide markets and to our own  citizens, that animal welfare is a cornerstone of the EU Agriculture model.

While Ireland has not been selected for an audit on this occasion, officials of my Department are ready to facilitate, and engage with, members of any ECA audit team which may be assigned to this jurisdiction at a future date.