Despite making the case to Defra for an early payout of the NI allocation of the EU aid package destined for local dairy farmers, Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill confirmed this week that the money is unlikely to arrive until early December.

Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, Agriculture Minister O’Neill said that the European Commission is finalising EU legislation required to make the aid payments.

Secondary or subordinate legislation will also be required at UK level, which inevitably delays how quickly money can be paid out.

“I expect that payments will be made in early December. I have asked Defra to prioritise our farmers, given that we are unique and that we are in a slightly different, more severe situation. Certainly, my intention would be that the payments would be with farmers before their Single Farm Payment,” the minister said.

Earlier this week, Defra confirmed that all four devolved administrations in the UK will distribute the EU aid package to dairy farmers in a single payment calculated on a flat-rate basis linked to 2014/15 milk production. In NI, the £5.1m allocation works out at approximately 0.23p/litre.

Each administration had the opportunity to distribute funding using their own systems.

However, the regions have opted for the same model using the Rural Payments Agency, which is under the remit of Defra.

The concern was that if payments in NI had been distributed by DARD, it could have had a negative effect and delayed processing of 2015 subsidy payments (Basic Payment Scheme and Greening).

Match funding

The Commission had also given member states the option to match fund the aid package, but Minister O’Neill ruled out any matching of NI’s £5.1m fund, stating that Defra had no intention of doing this and that there was no flexibility in DARD’s budget to provide additional money.

She also told MLAs that the decision to allocate the EU funding to dairy farmers, and not across other sectors, was because price falls have been deeper and more prolonged in dairying.

“I wanted to ensure that we target those who are facing the greatest losses and cashflow difficulties at this time,” she said.

When questioned about the other sectors, Minister O’Neill said that practical support through CAFRE, meetings she has held with banks around flexibility with farmers, and the timely arrival of subsidy payments this December would help all farmers.