One in every five farmers participating in the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s (NPWS) Farm Plan Scheme will receive an inspection over the coming two years.

Tender documents posted by the Department of Housing have sought the services from suitably qualified entities to carry out approximately 38 inspections each year for two successive years to monitor farmers’ compliance with their plans.

This will see around one in 10 farmers participating in the scheme inspected in each of the audit years.

There are currently 318 active plans, but as the NPWS expects this number to rise, it estimates that some 38 audits will be needed per year to reach to the 10% yearly inspection target.

The audits will ensure that the plans drawn up in the Farm Plan Scheme are of high quality and that the actions laid out in them were followed by farmers.

Inspections will check applicants’ land eligibility, evidence of land title and the adequacy of the supporting documentation generated by participating farmers logging their compliance with the scheme’s conditions.

Auditors will inspect whether actions, such as establishing hedgerows or managing grazing for wildlife, were completed within the timeframes specified in farmers’ plans.

Compliance

Geotagged photographs will back up auditors’ assessment of farmer compliance with the scheme.

Follow-up visits will be carried out should any non compliances be identified to inspect whether the remedial actions taken on these farms were sufficient in rectifying the issues found.

The tender states that the NPWS expects the cost of auditing the farm plans to amount to €200,000 plus VAT.

This suggests that it will cost over €2,600 plus VAT to audit each farm that is to receive an inspection.

The auditors will also provide recommendations for improvements to the Farm Plan Scheme.

NPWS scheme

The Farm Plan Scheme is run by the NPWS to pay farmers for carrying out actions identified as posing a particular benefit for nature on their lands.

Many of the plans are in place on Natura 2000-designated lands, as the scheme is targeted at areas of environmental priority.

In 2023, the average payment made to participants amounted to just over €8,800 across the 372 unique plans drawn up by 24 planners.

An additional 63 farmers were approved to participate in the NPWS scheme in 2023.