Farmer payments worth €215m under various schemes are at risk as schemes enter their final months.

GLAS I and II, BDGP II, and the Sheep Welfare Scheme are due to end this year.

It had been anticipated that a new CAP would be in place in 2021 to replace them but that has been delayed. Instead, there will be a transitional period of at least one year.

No indication has been given if these schemes will be rolled over.

Contracts to 36,000 GLAS farmers provide €151m, BDGP is worth €45.5m to 23,300 farmers and the Sheep Welfare Scheme provides €16m to 18,500 farmers.

The legal provisions for a transitional phase are yet to be finalised at EU level.

Without them, any decisions on scheme extensions are unlikely.

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