Farmers have called for an independent inquiry into the workings of the Department of Agriculture’s Nenagh office and the disproportionately high number of inspections carried out in north Tipperary.

Last month, 300 farmers marched in anger to the office over the inspections and subsequently have had two meetings with Department officials.

North Tipperary IFA chair Tim Cullinan told the Irish Farmers Journal that following the two meetings between the branch and Department officials on the back of the protest, which lasted almost five hours, there has been no progress on the issue.

Also, despite meeting on two occasions, it is understood that the branch has not met the inspector over the Nenagh office.

Cullinan said: “We still haven’t a clear answer as to why there has been more inspections and penalties compared to other counties. We’re looking for a resolution to this but there’s been no progress to date. We withdrew from negotiations last week.”

Cullinan said there are three reasons why the branch is seeking an inquiry:

  • The higher number of inspections in north Tipperary.
  • The higher number of penalties in north Tipperary (amounting to €1.28m).
  • They want a better protocol in the way inspections are carried out.
  • Last month, Cullinan led the protest in Nenagh and staged a sit-in in the offices until they received a meeting with Department officials.

    In January, the Irish Farmers Journal revealed figures that showed that farmers in north Tipperary and east Clare had disproportionately higher inspections and penalties than other areas.

    The Department’s Nenagh office carried out an average of 321 inspections in each of the past six years to 2015 compared with 299 annually for all other offices.