The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that the number of planned farm inspections carried out by Kerry County Council have been "inadequate" in recent years.

In this instance, the determination by the EPA that the number of inspections was "inadequate" is when they are compared to the number of waterbodies "at risk from agricultural pressures" in Co. Kerry.

This was shown through the publishing of a local authority enforcement audit report of Kerry County Council that was conducted by the EPA, which concluded that "further resourcing has now been assigned to this area for 2024".

With further funding ahead for farm inspections in Co. Kerry this year, the audit reflected that the number of inspections were "inadequate" in 2022 and 2023.

In 2022 the inspections were undertaken after the EPA stated "complaints" were received.

The authority also found that in 2023, there were "no preplanned Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Regulations inspections carried out" by Kerry County Council.

The EPA has stated it expects that in 2024, "directors of services will ensure those resources are used effectively to achieve the aims of the National Agricultural Inspections Programme (NAIP), carry out agricultural inspections and implement associated actions".

The EPA recommended that the local authority must focus on the following four work areas which did not meet the required standard in 2021, 2022 and were impacted in 2023:

Household and commercial waste;
Producer responsibility initiatives (PRI);
Pressures from agriculture (Farm Yards);
Pressures from agriculture (Farmland).

The EPA stated the following actions are required:

Kerry County Council shall effectively use the assigned resources to achieve the aims of the NAIP farm inspection plan;
The farm inspection tracker should be maintained throughout the year, to assist in reporting;
Kerry County Council are reminded to seek sanction for the new post of agriculture inspector recently notified to them by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH).

The EPA stated: "Kerry County Council shall take action to address the observations raised in this report and submit a report to the EPA within two months from the date of issue of this report."

In Wicklow, the EPA determined that similar to Kerry, in 2022 the number of planned farm inspections carried out was "inadequate" when compared to the number of waterbodies at risk from agricultural pressures in the county.

However, the EPA noted that "there was an increase in farm inspection and awareness activity for 2023" which it "welcomed".

As was the case in Kerry, the EPA outlined that "further resourcing has now been assigned to this area for 2024" in Wicklow.

The EPA stated that it expects that "directors of services will ensure those resources are used effectively to achieve the aims of the National Agricultural Inspections Programme (NAIP), carry out agricultural inspections and implement associated actions".

The EPA stated the following actions are required:

Wicklow County Council shall effectively use the assigned resources to achieve the aims of the NAIP farm inspection plan.
Wicklow County Council are reminded to seek sanction for the new post of agriculture inspector recently notified to them by the DHLGH.

"Wicklow County Council shall take action to address the observations raised in this report and submit a report to the EPA within two months from the date of issue of this report," the EPA stated.