There are around 7,000 GLAS III applicants under tier one, another 6,000 under tier two and 850 under tier three, IFA sources reported on Monday.
IFA rural development chair Joe Brady called on the Department of Agriculture to allow all applicants in, including those who are in tier three, bringing the total number of participants to 52,000 instead of the 50,000 places officially available in GLAS.
ICSA rural development chair Seamus Sherlock also called on the Department to accept all applicants. “I would urge Minister Creed to make every effort not to deny eligible farmers this much-needed income source as it can make a real difference in the lives of farming families,” he said.
Agriculture minister Michael Creed hinted earlier this month that the large volume of applications would lead the Department to retain only tier one and two applicants to stay within the scheme’s budget. “Higher-priority environmental actions that will promote them from tier three to a higher tier, thus increasing their chances of selection into the scheme,” he said.
Fianna Fáil agriculture spokesman Charlie McConalogue had previously argued that more than 50,000 farmers could be allowed into GLAS within the existing €1.45bn earmarked for the scheme between 2014 and 2020. Because it only opened in late 2015, the 50,000 places available were not filled at first and the options chosen by farmers resulted in lower than expected average payments.
December payment
The Department is expected to pay existing GLAS participants this week.
“It will not be acceptable if these payments drag into next week or beyond,” Brady said. “Farmers have incurred costs such as planning and compliance fees and cannot have any payment delay as maintaining cashflow is vital.”
Additional reporting by Amy Fitzgibbon.
Read more
Full coverage: GLAS
There are around 7,000 GLAS III applicants under tier one, another 6,000 under tier two and 850 under tier three, IFA sources reported on Monday.
IFA rural development chair Joe Brady called on the Department of Agriculture to allow all applicants in, including those who are in tier three, bringing the total number of participants to 52,000 instead of the 50,000 places officially available in GLAS.
ICSA rural development chair Seamus Sherlock also called on the Department to accept all applicants. “I would urge Minister Creed to make every effort not to deny eligible farmers this much-needed income source as it can make a real difference in the lives of farming families,” he said.
Agriculture minister Michael Creed hinted earlier this month that the large volume of applications would lead the Department to retain only tier one and two applicants to stay within the scheme’s budget. “Higher-priority environmental actions that will promote them from tier three to a higher tier, thus increasing their chances of selection into the scheme,” he said.
Fianna Fáil agriculture spokesman Charlie McConalogue had previously argued that more than 50,000 farmers could be allowed into GLAS within the existing €1.45bn earmarked for the scheme between 2014 and 2020. Because it only opened in late 2015, the 50,000 places available were not filled at first and the options chosen by farmers resulted in lower than expected average payments.
December payment
The Department is expected to pay existing GLAS participants this week.
“It will not be acceptable if these payments drag into next week or beyond,” Brady said. “Farmers have incurred costs such as planning and compliance fees and cannot have any payment delay as maintaining cashflow is vital.”
Additional reporting by Amy Fitzgibbon.
Read more
Full coverage: GLAS
SHARING OPTIONS