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The Department of Agriculture has issued financial penalties to three farmers in MCPA priority areas since the beginning of 2018. The farmers breached cross compliance and pesticide controls division inspections.
Four catchment areas covering Longford central, Kilkenny city (Troyswood), Abbeyfeale and Newcastlewest in Co Limerick are priority areas for the monitoring of MCPA, the popular rush spray.
Since the start of 2018, the Department has conducted 41 pesticide controls division inspections in these areas.
Breaches
The most common breaches were the use of plant protection products (PPPs) outside of the conditions of their registration, for example total dose rates being exceeded, storage requirements of PPPs not being met and incomplete records.
It was as a result of these breaches, that the Department imposed Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) sanctions and fixed penalty notices on farmers who were not compliant.
If a farmer is found to be in breach of cross compliance regulations through negligence, he/she can be sanctioned on up to 5% of their BPS payment.
A Department of Agriculture spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that there is a still a need for continued action to address this issue.
“The need for further measures will be kept under active consideration,” the spokesperson said.
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