990. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to detail the information technology system used to administer producer organisation operational programmes and claims; the extent to which the system relies on spreadsheets or manual processes; and whether his Department has examined procuring or adapting a dedicated system used by another European Union Member State. [65241/26]

991. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether officials from his Department attended the principal annual European conference for producer organisations in each year from 2022 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of officials attending in each year; and, where his Department was not represented, the reason for non-attendance, in tabular form. [65240/26]

992. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of producer organisation inspections completed in each year from 2022 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number delayed beyond the scheduled date; the average delay; and whether such delays resulted in delayed payments to producer organisations or their members, in tabular form. [65239/26]

993. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether an assessment has been undertaken of the staffing and other resources required to administer producer organisations as the number of recognised organisations increase; and whether additional resources are planned. [65238/26]

994. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of whole time equivalent staff assigned to the administration, inspection and oversight of producer organisations in each year from 2022 to 2025 and to date in 2026, by grade, in tabular form. [65237/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 990, 991, 992, 993 and 994 together.

The EU funded Scheme for Producer Organisations in the Fruits and Vegetables Sector is an important support for Ireland's horticulture sector. Five Producer Organisations concentrate the supply of over 40 Irish members in the mushroom, field vegetables, soft fruit, top fruit and protected crops sectors. Last year my Department processed and paid claims to fruit and vegetable Producer Organisations for aid worth over €8.6 million.

While the Scheme is mandatory for Member States, subsidiarity and individual CAP Strategic Plans allows for each Member State to interpret the complex EU legislation according to their own Member States' needs. This means that different Member States administer the Scheme in different ways. My officials recently conducted a survey of Member States and while some Member States had bespoke IT systems it tended to be those that were processing aid of more than €100 million each year or with more than 50 Producer Organisations in their Member State. Many smaller Member States, including Ireland, rely on manual processes to administer a scheme that in Ireland has only 5 recipients. Given the differences that exist between Member States' schemes, the challenge and cost of adapting another Member State's IT system (which has been set up according to their national rules), it is not considered likely to add to the efficiency of administration of the PO scheme in Ireland.

With regards to attendance at the principal annual European conference for producer organisations, my colleague is referring to ICOP. This conference is targeted at representatives of the European fruit and vegetable industry rather than Paying Agencies or Government Departments. While the locations change each year, it is a worthwhile conference for Producer Organisations to attend and their attendance is funded through the Producer Organisation scheme. Indeed, as part of the claim processing, each PO must submit a report from the event which my officials review. One of my officials attended ICOPs in person in 2022 and two officials attended virtually in 2023. Given that the event takes place during the busiest month of the year for administering the scheme itself, the conference is no longer streamed and my officials engage regularly and consistently with their peers in other Member States through informal networks and bilaterally, since 2023 it has not been deemed best use of the team's time to attend.

Following the EU audit of 2021, the scheme working processes were reviewed and an additional complement of 4 staff were assigned to increase the number of administrative staff processing approvals and claims. An additional Agricultural Inspector (AI), Higher Executive Officer (HEO), Executive Officer (EO) and Clerical officer (CO) were assigned.

Should the number of Producer Organisations further increase, business needs will again be assessed and staff numbers reviewed. For the years 2022 to date, the following table outlines the officials overseeing, administering and inspecting the scheme:

Producer Organisations are inspected based on a risk based analysis. My Inspectors liaise with the Producer Organisations themselves to arrange the inspections themselves. The inspections are therefore never delayed. Under EU legislation and in accordance with the scheme Terms and Conditions payments to Producer Organisations must be delayed until any and all corrective actions (following inspection) are resolved to my department's satisfaction. Delays to approval and or payment are more likely to occur when the evidence submitted to the administration team for approval or claim is insufficient or inconsistent and the resulting queries take time to resolve. The following table outlines the number of inspections carried out since 2022.

My Department is committed to ensuring that a highly skilled and motivated workforce is in place to meet business needs and uses workforce planning to identify and assess these needs for all locations.

As business needs arise, staff are allocated to support organisational priorities within my Department. Overall staffing levels and required skills are monitored to ensure business needs are met.

Resourcing requirements are kept under ongoing review, with staffing needs considered in the context of organisational priorities and operational requirements. Where additional staffing requirements arise, these are considered through the appropriate workforce planning and resourcing processes.