Over 7,000 farmers are awaiting payment for the Disadvantaged Area Scheme, with the highest number of farmers based in Co Mayo.

In a written answer to TD Denis Naughten, Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney said a total of 7,079 farmers have yet to receive disadvantaged area payments. He said that payments "will not issue to all of the cases above, as certain holdings will not satisfy the retention rates for the scheme as set out in the terms and conditions that govern the scheme". The average disadvantaged area payment is €2,100.

Almost 2,000 of the 121,881 farmers eligible for the Single Farm Payment Scheme are still waiting payment for the first instalment, the Minister also said. He said the applications "did not pass the validation process, went into error and cannot be paid pending a resolution of the error or the completion of the land eligibility inspection concerned." The errors include over-claims, dual claims and incomplete application forms.

Minister Coveney said the Department is in correspondence with the farmers concerned to resolve the errors.

Meanwhile, Over 98% of those eligible for the Single Payment Scheme (119,894 farmers) have now received their first instalment, with 1,161 awaiting payment of their last instalment. Coveney said it is not possible to estimate the amount of money due to those awaiting payment, but added that the average advance payment has been €4,800 and the overall average payment has been €9,600.