The Problem
Under EU legislation all member states must take necessary measures to ensure that transactions financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund are not only carried out but are also implemented correctly. For this purpose, national authorities are required to operate an integrated Administration and Control System (ICAS) in order to ensure that payments are made correctly and irregularities preveneted.
As the Irish Government’s accredited paying agency, the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM) is responsible for the management and control of all payments in application of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). DAFM requires a number of tasks to be completed in order that payments may be made to farmers under their area based schemes. Applications are submitted to DAFM online or by post, with approximately 30,000 digitised each scheme year.
What We Did
Mallon provides an experienced project team of up to 78 people with relevant skills and third level qualifications on this project. The project is managed by a dedicated project management team across DAFM offices in Dublin and Portlaoise. The profile of the project team includes project managers, a quality management team, training staff, spatial analysts and a team of GIS technicians.
The project involves the data capture (digitising) and update of land parcels vectors using an existing Geographical Information System (Land Parcel Identification System). The system combines business and geospatial data in a web–based system and supports over €1.6bn in direct payments to the farming community on an annual basis.
The Benefits
- DAFM are able to process all payments efficiently and in full compliance with EU regulations
- The national dataset is maintained and can be shared with other stakeholders
- The LPIS system can be used as a spatial decision support/policy support system by an expert team