Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed today announced that the payment of €12.4m to approximately 98,000 farmers has commenced, with some farmers receiving the payment as early as last Thursday. This money was deducted from farmer's 2014 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) payments under the Financial Discipline rule.

Creed said that these payments “will bring the total paid to Irish farmers under the Basic Payment Scheme since payments commenced in October 2015 to €1.2 billion”.

He added that arrangements are at an "advanced stage" for the issuing of the first installment of 70% of the 2016 BPS from 16 October.

"The 2016 Basic Payment Scheme saw a further increase in the number of online applications to over 100,000," Creed said. "My Department will continue to roll out online applications in 2017, given the range of benefits it brings for farmers.”

He urged all farmers to respond as quickly as possible to the query letters which have been issuing in recent weeks to farmers who have an outstanding query on their 2016 BPS application in order to speed up the rollout of payments.

Land eligibility issues are still a major concern for farmers

€12.4m cash boost for farmers

Approximately 98,000 farmers will receive payments totaling €12.4m that were deducted from their 2014 Single Payment Scheme payments under Financial Discipline rule.