Minister of State for Food, Forestry and Horticulture Andrew Doyle has said he will try to get an extension from the Department of Agriculture for the Knowledge Transfer (KT) deadline of 31 May. Doyle was speaking to agricultural consultants at the ACA annual conference in Birr, Co Offaly, on Wednesday.

However, this is at odds with Minster for Agriculture Michael Creed, who said last week he had no current plans to extend the deadline for completion of meetings and paperwork under the KT programme.

Despite calls from Teagasc, veterinary professionals and Knowledge Transfer protocol group facilitators for an extension to the deadline for completing actions under KT programme, Minister Michael Creed has said that at present there are no plans to extend the deadline.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Year one of the scheme runs from 1 June 2016 to 31 May 2017, and groups and national events are under way across all sectors, and at present there are no plans to extend the 31 May 2017 deadline,” he told Deputy Charlie McConalogue in reply to a parliamentary question.

Problems

As reported in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal, the KT scheme has been plagued by problems in recent times, including issues relating to costs, bureaucracy and IT.

Some 30 farmers out of 20,000 have already left the scheme since it was set up last June, and more are expected to follow suit in the coming months.