13th April 2002

REPS

Getting REPS cash

Many first-time applicants for REPS will wish to join the Farm Waste Management scheme. The priority for intending REPS applicants is to have their REPS planner carry out a farmyard assessment. If pollution works are required the planner will set out a programme to bring the facilities up to REPS standard, advise you whether planning permission is required, assess eligibility for the Farm Waste Management scheme and assist with the application. Planning permission, if required, must be lodged with the application. Construction cannot begin until grant approval is received.

In REPS 2000 the planner is not permitted to process a REPS plan unless satisfied necessary pollution works can be put in place before required. This will be the next winter for slurry storage, soiled water control, etc. In the case of silage facilities they must be in place before the next silage-making season. There are severe penalties for non-compliance. There can be unforeseen delays with planning permission and construction works. The Department has made it clear that such excuses will not be entertained if the facilities are not in place on time.

The best advice is to progress the building work to the stage you are sure it will be completed on time before the REPS plan is submitted.

Bye-law compliance

Where these are in force local authority bye-law requirements for pollution control must also be complied with. So far local authorities have exempted existing REPS farmers from bye-law provisions on the basis that REPS can deliver improvements in water quality. It is in the interest of planners and farmers that REPS lives up to expectations. It is important that REPS farmers are seen to operate to standards as high or higher than required by law in the context of protecting REPS payments in the long term.

High levels of farmyard investment in REPS suggests that this is happening. Relative to 1994, the latest National Farm Survey shows major increases in new building investment (38 per cent) and building maintenance (71 per cent) on REPS farms compared with no change and a 6 per cent increase respectively for non-REPS farms of similar intensity. This suggests that REPS farmers have upgraded their buildings and pollution control facilities. In contrast investment in farm buildings declined by 17 per cent on intensive non-REPS farms over the same period.

REPS preparation