Over 350 Galway farmers penalised in the past year

MORE than 350 farmers from County Galway have been handed out penalties as a result of farm inspections carried out over the past year – the figures have just been released by the Department of Agriculture.

And the figures have coincided with a call for the complete overhaul of the inspection system which has revealed a variation of up to 370% in penalty rates.

It has been learned that 355 farmers were penalised in County Galway, 148 in Mayo while 115 farmers in Roscommon were punished.

Figures revealed in data obtained from the Dept. of Agriculture reveal that there is a 43% variation throughout the country in the penalty rate for nitrate inspections, a 41% variation on Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) inspections and a 24% variation rate on cattle inspections.

“It is statistics like these which reinforce the need for a radical reform of the whole system,” Deputy Denis Naughten has said.

“We currently have a totally unacceptable situation where the county in which you farm has as much to do with the level of penalties you may face as the actual implementation of the Department of Agriculture rules.

“For example, at present there is close to a 370% better chance of having a clear nitrate inspection in County Donegal than if you farm in County Tipperary where six out of every 10 farmers inspected received a penalty,” he pointed out.

He described these variations as being nothing short of ludicrous and making a farce of the farm inspection system. “These discrepancies show the lack of consistency in inspection standards in different counties and between different inspectors,” he added.

“If this was the Leaving Certificate would we accept a situation where the pass rate in maths or English varied by 370% based on what county you lived in? As such it should not be acceptable within the agricultural inspection system either,” Deputy Naughten said.

Over the past four years there has been a 500% increase in penalties as a result of on-farm inspections with farmers losing out on €4.7 million in 2012.

The complexity of on-farm inspections has increased significantly over the last four years with farmers facing an average fine ranging from €1,160 to €3,500 depending on the detail of the inspection imposed on them.

“While Teagasc support helps to improve the profitability of farms, the reality is that a cross compliance inspection could have a far bigger impact on the profitability of a farm.

“Many more checks have been added to the cross compliance check list and it can now take up to three days to do a comprehensive on-farm inspection.

“A large number of these checks have no impact on food safety yet they can have a big impact on the potential penalty facing the farmer,” Deputy Naughten added.