Drystock farmer and former IFA deputy president and Carlow chair Derek Deane has told the Irish Farmers Journal that the Department of Agriculture official accused of alleged misconduct by a number of farmers in this newspaper was at the centre of a dispute surrounding an inspection on his farm in February 2012.

The initial inspection report seen by the Irish Farmers Journal noted soiled water discharge from the yard, a broken gutter and “inadequate management of this open yard”. The report included a direction “to take remedial action, fix broken gutter and tidy open yard” within 14 days and a mention of “possible reduced single payment” as a sanction.

According to Deane, the official also asked him verbally to fit a tank at the end of the open yard, which the official later denied. The farmer added that he was assured there would be “no problem with his payments”.

Deane said he signed the report during a long conversation in the inspector’s jeep, which started positively with praise for the livestock and layout of the farm. “But towards the end of the discussion, he then moved to things that I needed to do and his attitude changed. I believe he was looking for a payment to allow me to pass the inspection,” Deane said.

He said he fixed the gutter, tidied the yard and had a tank installed at the end of the yard within two weeks. The Irish Farmers Journal visited the farm and saw invoices confirming this. Yet within six weeks, he received a 3% penalty notice stating that “there was visual evidence of inadequate collection of livestock manure and soiled water”.

He later obtained a copy of the initial inspection report showing that the inspector had certified his farm as non-compliant in the section after the farmer’s signature. An internal report seen by the Irish Farmers Journal details that “some FYM has been stored” in the yard “with runoff to groundwater in adjoining drain”.

Notice form

“The notice form that he filled out on the farm at no time made any reference to the inadequate collection of livestock manure I was penalised for,” Deane said, adding that the only manure present at the time was being temporarily moved outside calving boxes.

He appealed first to the local Department office and then to the Agricultural Appeals Office, which both upheld the sanction. “I found the whole appeals process a farcical exercise,” Deane said, “just supporting the Department official 100% in everything”.

Formal complaint

Deane said he lodged a formal complaint in November 2013, on the advice of then Department secretary general Tom Moran. The Irish Farmers Journal saw his statement including Deane’s impression that “in exchange for a financial consideration, there would be no issues on foot of the inspection,” although the official did not request money directly.

Deane said that he raised the matter in meetings with then Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney in 2015 and current secretary general Aidan O’Driscoll in August 2017. “Absolutely nothing happened,” he said, criticising the Department’s “incompetence” in addressing the issue.

In the meantime, he said he has been singled out for inspections, with two in 2016 alone. ‘‘If I keep coming out of the Department computer like this for random checks, I’m starting to buy lotto tickets,” he said.

It was only last week that senior Department officials contacted him again about his complaint after the latest allegations on the official’s conduct appeared in the Irish Farmers Journal.

“The reason I want to go public on this is I believe there are a lot of farmers out there who have had similar experiences,” Deane said, encouraging them to contact this newspaper about similar behaviour.

“This corruption has to be stamped out in the interest of all,” he said, adding that he had “met some of the best people in the Department” over the years.

‘‘We need checks and balances that have teeth to deal with the issues that are arising in all areas of the public sector,” he said, referring to the recent health and Garda scandals.

In the first response since the Irish Farmers Journal started querying the Department on farmers’ grievances with the official involved six weeks ago, its principal officer with responsibility for corporate affairs Padraig McMahon wrote to this newspaper this week to express “concern that anybody would be fearful of reporting such matter”.

“The Department has a customer complaints procedure which is equipped to handle serious allegations such as these”, including through investigations by independent third parties, he added.

He said criminal behaviour should be reported to the gardaí and urged any farmers with a complaint to contact the Department's Quality Service Unit as follows.

  • Telephone: 057 8694331
  • Email: qualityserviceunit@agriculture.gov.ie
  • Post: Quality Service Unit, Corporate Affairs Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pavilion A, Grattan Business Centre, Dublin Road, Portlaoise, Co Laois, R32 K857.
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