Among the complaints received by Laois County Council this year include one on cattle accessing a river and causing water pollution.
This is according to a local authority enforcement audit report of Laois County Council that was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Laois County Council had previously inspected this farm, which is in derogation.
The audit report stated that “no cattle are currently using the field however fencing is required at a cattle access point before livestock are put back out”.
The county council is to conduct a “follow up inspection to ensure fencing is in place”.
A further complaint received by Laois County Council was an allegation of slurry flowing down a river.
Laois County Council carried out a site visit on the day of receipt of complaint (April 15, 2024) and it was found, according to the report, that the “farmer had carried out landspreading the day before heavy rainfall”.
The farmer was instructed to block the surface flow pathway, and the audit stated that a full inspection was planned under Good Agricultural Regulations.
Laois County Council
The number of farms to be inspected by local authorities in Co. Laois are set to increase in 2024 and 2025.
The EPA provided numbers of farms to be inspected in 2024 and 2025 to all local authorities in February 2024.
There was a “slight increase” in the number of farm inspections carried out by Laois County Council from 2022 to 2023, the audit showed.
A further increase is required for 2024 (101 farms) and again in 2025 (134 farms).
The EPA determined that “farm inspections should continue to be focused on achieving positive environmental outcomes”.
The audit revealed that Laois County Council responded to a Red Dot notification from the EPA during 2023, which required focused investigation and liaison with other agencies and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The Red Dot Programme was established by the EPA to identify seriously polluted sites and seek action to improve them.
In 2019, the programme was extended by introducing an early notification system whereby the relevant public body (e.g. the local authority) would be notified of any serious pollution event observed by the EPA during their river monitoring activities.
The EPA audit stated: “This priority work pulled an already stretched resource away from routine work for a period and so impacted farm inspection numbers.”
On an audit of resources for water enforcement, the EPA stated that in 2023, there was less than one-person full-time equivalent working on farm inspections.
However, since January 2024, there is a new dedicated staff resource in place for farm inspections. Sanction has also been provided for a second new resource.
The EPA recommended that the recruitment competition for the new staff resource for farm inspections should be held as soon as possible to ensure the target numbers of farm inspections can be achieved in 2024 and 2025.
Staff resources recruited for farm inspections must be ring-fenced for this role, the audit determined.