"I am happy to confirm that the 30% balancing payments under the BPS have now commenced on schedule," Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Agriculture, 121,000 farmers have now received a total of €1.1bn in the 70% BPS advances paid since October. This is 1,000 more than last week and leaves around 5,000 yet to be paid.

Outstanding queries

Minister Creed said that his officials were prioritising these delayed cases and urged farmers with outstanding queries from the Department to respond as soon as possible to proceed with payment: "I can confirm that every effort continues to be made to clear for payment the small percentage of outstanding cases. Regular pay runs will continue in December in order to process cases as quickly as possible."

Payments under the 2017 National Reserve and the Young Farmer Scheme will commence in the coming week, following the BPS balancing payment.

Minister Creed re-stated his intention to move all BPS applications online next year to ensure payments "in as timely a manner as possible".

ANC payments

Separately, 90,000 farmers have been paid a total of €194m under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme to date.

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BPS balancing payments begin

The remainder of the Basic Payment Scheme is now being paid to farmers, while advance BPS and ANC payments continue.