Inspections could be reduced by as much as 80% from current levels after a pledge from EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan.

This was Hogan’s first major step in a simplification of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for farmers. However, the reduction in inspection numbers is closely linked with land eligibility.

In the case of Ireland, our Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) must be updated every three years and have overall error rates below 2%. LPIS is something Ireland has had difficulties with in the past.

If fully implemented in Ireland, land eligibility inspections could be dropped from the current level of 6,500 a year down to 1,300.

Another big improvement would be the introduction of preliminary checks on all applications to reduce errors and potential farm penalties.

Read more

On-the-spot checks to be cut

CAP simplification welcomed

Hogan to slash number of farm inspections