Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 November 2012
522. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason his Department officials are carrying out on-farm inspections and subsequently carrying out satellite inspection on the same farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49398/12]
View answerIn accordance with EU legislation governing the payment of area-based aid, in particular, Council Regulation 73/2009 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1122/2009, it is necessary for Member States to carry out on-the-spot land eligibility inspections on at least 5% of all farmers submitting a single payment scheme application. In carrying out these land eligibility inspections, Member States may make use of satellite imagery. My Department makes use of such imagery to carry out a proportion of land eligibility inspections.
When the available images do not permit a satisfactory verification of the land use or area of a parcel(s) applied for by an applicant, perhaps due to cloud cover, it is an EU requirement that a ground inspection must take place. These inspections are generally limited to verifying the area of the particular parcel(s) where the position is unclear from the imagery available (unless 80% or more of the area was unclear). The results obtained are used, in combination with the clear satellite imagery, to finalise the eligibility inspection of the entire areas declared.
