The Irish Farmers Journal received numerous calls this week regarding late payments for the main environmental schemes. We asked the Department (DAFM) for an update on progress:

GLAS

We requested an update on GLAS payments, but it failed to reply before our print deadline.

According to the IFA, it would appear that very few payments were made this week, despite commitments given that more payments would be made. The remaining 15% payment will be paid from the end of February onwards when on-farm inspections have been completed by DAFM on selected farms.

AEOS payments

According to DAFM, just over 4,150 AEOS II participants completed their contracts on 31 December 2016. DAFM says under the EU regulations governing this and all other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must take place before the final payment can issue.

To date, approximately half of the AEOS II cases have successfully passed these checks and have been paid. DAFM says the remaining cases are currently being checked and payments will continue to issue on an ongoing basis as cases are cleared.

The status of AEOS III payments is unclear. IFA rural development chair Joe Brady has said that the delays in GLAS and AEOS payments have caused a lot of concern among farmers and has seriously affected cashflow difficulties.

Organic payments

There are approximately 1,800 farmers participating in the Organic Farming Scheme.

DAFM says the majority of farmers have received an 85% payment in respect of 2016.

Where participating farmers have not received payment, DAFM says the common issue which has arisen is discrepancies in the land parcel details.

The Department is currently working through these issues and hopes to process payments at the end of this month.