Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS)

The Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) is the Department’s spatial database. It contains over 1.3 million polygons/parcels representing the land holdings of over 130,000 farmers. The Land Parcel Identification system underpins payments of 1.6 billion of EU funded schemes to applicants in line with regulatory requirements.

The LPIS must fulfil two primary functions, the first is the identification and positioning of agricultural, forestry scheme, forestry licencing (afforestation and forest roads) and forestry tree felling parcels and the second is the determination of the eligible area.

The LPIS is the mapping system used by the department to record and manage all land declarations under the various area-based systems. The system was initially built on the digitising of paper maps and was fully updated county by county in the past few years. One of the main means by which the LPIS is continually being updated is by the annual submission of maps by applicants under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme, geotag photos, Aerial Ortho imagery and Agri Snap™. These maps are updated as appropriate to amend the eligible areas of the land parcels declared.