Failure rate of 43% in farm water protection inspections
55 farm inspections had been carried out in Tipperary by the end of April
Recent figures from Tipperary County Council show that as of the end of April 2026 there have been 55 farm inspections out of a target of 350 for the year under the Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters (GAP) programme, and 106 routine farm inspections out of a target of 400.
While the council reported how many inspections had been carried out, they have not yet provided information on how many of these inspections passed or failed.
Last week the EPA published their summary report for the National Agricultural Inspection Programme (NAIP) for 2025, finding that nationally, the failure rate for GAP inspections is 43%, with the most common reason for non-compliance the poor control of soiled water, and inadequate management of manure.
In 2025, 2,935 enforcement actions were taken by local authorities, and 199 were cross-reported to the Department of Agriculture which led to penalties of their BISS payment.
Tipperary County Council carried out the second-highest number of inspections in 2025 with 496; there are however about 7,400 farms in the county.
For the farms that were found to be non-compliant, issues with gutters and downpipes were top of the list, clean water not being properly segregated, and runoff not being controlled was a huge issue.
The inadequate management of the silage pit was another top reason for failure, as was an inadequate storage capacity for slurry.