The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has cautiously welcomed the appointment of Padraig Gibbons as new chair of the Commonage Implementation Committee (CIC).

"The appointment is long overdue as the committee has not met for over a year," said INHFA chair Vincent Roddy.

The organisation said it is seeking an urgent meeting with the CIC to discuss issues on commonages in relation to flexibility on the individual min/max figures and how they intend to address issues on commonages where the 50% participation has not been achieved.

The INHFA also called on Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to ensure that every commonage has an appointed planner.

"There are still some commonages with no appointed planner and some where the appointed planner is no longer in a position to complete the plan," Roddy said. "On these commonages, farmers in GLAS need to be reassured that their payments will not be held up due to circumstances outside their control."