This week's payments to 323 farmers amount to just over €1.1m and cover a mix of applicants from the first two tranches of the scheme, according to the Department.

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Three protests have taken place around the country in the past few days over the delays. Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said payments were held up because of difficulties with the IT systems used to administer the scheme – despite revelations this week that the Department had spent €8.3m on such systems in the past three years.

A Department spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal this week that "payments will continue to be processed on an ongoing basis".

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