In any normal grant-aided system, an official inspection process is necessary to protect the public purse. And in particular cases, unannounced inspections are required to ensure basic requirements are met. In spite of that, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) is attempting to pressurise the Government into ending its no-warning inspections of farm waste facilities. Such a development should be resisted.
Last year, the IFA campaigned aggressively against the imposition of strict anti-water pollution measures proposed by the Department of the Environment under the EU Nitrates Directive. As a consequence, changes were made. Controls on the spread of farmyard manures were relaxed. Now, IFA president Pádraig Walshe is demanding that two weeks' notice should be given in advance of any inspections of farm waste facilities.
A case can be made for simplifying the inspection process. Farmers are entitled to clear guidelines setting out what is required to qualify for waste management funds and single farm payments. But those who pay the bill must also be assured that their money is well spent and is having a positive effect on the environment.
Last year, the Department of Agriculture carried out less than 8,000 on-the-spot inspections of farm waste facilities designed to deliver cleaner groundwater. One-third of farmers were found to be in breach of requirements. Half of those had financial penalties imposed. Now, the Department of Agriculture is not anti-farmer. And it takes no pleasure in causing them trouble. But it is required by law to ensure that EU grant aid is not abused and that publicly funded waste treatment systems on farms are properly operated. Nearly €6 billion has been set aside under the National Development Plan for the development of agriculture and protection of the environment.
Farming is properly recognised as a vital component of the economy. In that regard, some 20,000 farmers have applied for grants to build and operate slurry storage facilities. Their plans have to be finalised by the end of this month. While they will be paid to prevent pollution and improve water quality, it would be wrong to suggest that rigorous enforcement measures will not follow.
When one in six randomly inspected farms is penalised for breaching pollution controls, something is seriously wrong. It goes far beyond bureaucratic box-ticking. And the problem must be confronted. No-warning inspections should be increased, rather than eliminated, in spite of IFA pre-election threats. Otherwise, taxpayers will fund anti-pollution measures that do not work.