Farmers in some Leinster and Munster counties were subjected to a cross-compliance inspection rate 10 times higher than their Connacht colleagues last year.

Farmers in Carlow, Wicklow, Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny were subject to the highest rates of cross-compliance inspection per county last year.

Analysis of cross-compliance inspections and the number of eligible Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) applications for each county last year reveals a wide variation in the rate of inspection across the country.

Farmers in Carlow and Wicklow topped the table, with a cross-compliance inspection rate of 10.1% each.

They were closely followed by counties Tipperary (9.4%), Waterford (9.1%) and Kilkenny (9%).

However, some counties had a much lower inspection rate, with only 0.7% of farmers in Co Leitrim being selected for cross-compliance inspection. This was by far the lowest rate, with only 125 farmers out of the 3,404 eligible BPS applicants undergoing an inspection.

Co Sligo farm inspections were also on the low side at 115, or 2.9% of the 3,924 farmers being inspected.

The average inspection rate across the country was 6.1%, with 7,645 farmers of the 124,593 eligible BPS applicants undergoing cross-compliance inspection.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture told the Irish Farmers Journal that EU regulations stipulate that the rate of inspections for cross-compliance is at least 1% of beneficiaries to whom the Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) and the standards for Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) apply.

Some 3% of farmers must be inspected under the bovine identification and registration requirements, and 3% of sheep/goat farmers must be inspected, covering 5% of the flock.

Department inspectors also carry out 1,650 nitrates inspections annually under the nitrates regulations on behalf of the Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government.

The Department said cases for inspection are selected by risk analysis, with cases selected on a risk and random basis. The selection process is carried out by headquarters staff and local office staff have no involvement in the selection process. It must meet the EU regulatory requirements and is subject to EU audit.

When assessing risk, factors such as land type, number and scale of enterprises, number of livestock and previous inspection history are taken into account.

Cases selected within each risk category are selected randomly from the available population, it said.

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