John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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479. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if all areas of horticulture can operate under level 5 public health restrictions; if not, if work is limited to certain types of horticulture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3345/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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For public health reasons, the Government has advised that people should stay at home except in a number of situations, including if they are travelling to and from work where the work is considered to be an essential service. Those essential service providers are listed and Regulations are in place to support them. Measures are based on expert advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and are kept under ongoing review by that group, with the over-riding consideration being the protection of public health in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Horticulture is listed as an essential service under the latest government Level 5 measures, However, It is a matter for each company/individual to assess, based on the current published information on the official government website, whether they are involved in providing any of the essential services currently permitted

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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480. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason departmental inspectors are still performing on-farm inspections during the level 5 restrictions, given the potential risk of spreading Covid-19 when it is not deemed essential work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2990/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is continuing to support the farming community in these difficult times, in particular, by ensuring that scheme payments can continue to issue to farmer clients. Conducting on-farm inspections is deemed essential work. Officials in my Department and I are very conscious of the challenges and concerns for all stakeholders posed by the COVID-19 situation. At all times, our priority is to safeguard the health and safety of farm families, our staff and the wider community, while still facilitating scheme payments. Where possible, inspections are being done remotely, thereby avoiding the need for on-farm visits but in certain situations, a farm visit is required in order to complete the pre-payment checks and controls necessary to make vital payments to these farmers.

Inspections are carried out in line with HSE guidelines and Government requirements concerning COVID. All inspections are notified in advance and the farmer is afforded an opportunity to defer the inspection for up to three weeks should there be COVID related concerns or issues. In addition, inspectors are required to adhere to an inspection protocol which gives clear guidance to inspectors on procedures to be followed during the inspection. We cannot defer inspections indefinitely as this would impact payments to scheme participants.