One Co Louth dairy farmer is waiting for a TAMS II payment of €17,000 since last year.

His payment is held up over a €30 discrepancy on a €50,000 bulk tank. He was willing to tell his story, but did not want to be identified.

“I put in a new 25,000l milk tank in January 2016. The new tank cost €50,000, but I was trading in my old tank so I told the Department it was going to cost €31,430,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“When I paid my supplier for the tank, he knocked off the €30. That’s their excuse for not paying me – my cheque book doesn’t have the same figure as my application,” he explained. “We even offered to write a second cheque for the €30 and get a receipt, but they said it was too late, my file was already in the system.”

Cashflow

The dairy farmer continued: “I had decided to fund the tank out of cashflow, not realising that milk price was going to be bad. When I didn’t get the money from the Department after a few weeks, I had to go to the bank and take out a loan of €17,000.

“Then later I had to go back and extend it until Christmas so that I could pay it back with the last of the Single Farm Payment.

“I didn’t want to borrow that money, but between milk price and cattle being sick ... my wife even started doing night work so we wouldn’t have to put the kids in crèche. It’s only when you look back you realise how much rooting we had to do.”

“I had a man out from the Department in October/November time to look at the cheque book. I haven’t heard anything since. Are we not worth a phone call or a letter?

“If it was a computer problem with paying their wages it would be fixed by now.

“They treat farmers like third-class citizens.”

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