The ongoing delay in farmers receiving their GLAS and AEOS scheme payments is unacceptable. There seems to be a lack of appreciation within the Department of Agriculture of the extent to which farmers depend on these payments merely to keep their businesses afloat. The impact of a €3,000 to €5,000 payment being delayed needs to be considered in the context of typical incomes of less than €20,000 for farmers in these schemes.

In recent weeks, our buildings and environment specialist Peter Varley has been inundated with calls from farmers in severe cashflow pressure. Participation in these schemes comes at a significant cost to farmers, especially in the first year. Many have been forced to take short-term steps to bridge the income gap that will have long-term impacts on the profitability of their enterprises. It is clearly unacceptable.

We acknowledge the extent to which our Department of Agriculture has out-preformed its counterparts throughout Europe – both in getting money out to farmers and in getting schemes open. Nevertheless, the poor performance of others should not be the benchmark against which our Department is assessed.

Farmers have a legitimate expectation that the service provided by the Department will be professional, respectful and fair. This has not been the general experience over the past 12 to 18 months. Only when political pressure mounted did problems with IT infrastructure within the Department surface. Instead of acknowledging the issue and trying to work with affected farmers, the approach centred on trying to manage the news. This only added to farmer pressure. There was no direct communication as to when problems would be solved and payments would begin to flow. Those without payments were left waiting at the end of phone lines for hours, either due to the volume of calls or internal staffing issues that saw phones go unanswered.

Minister Creed’s response to these issues has hit his credibility rating among farmers, as have the catalogue of other issues in relation to schemes delivered under the Rural Development Programme – mainly surrounding TAMS.

Worryingly, we are hearing reports of farmers who have incurred small penalties under TAMS having their entire payments held up, again due to IT issues. The minister has been slow to insist on a commonsense solution to the problem. Clearly there is the scope for him to intervene and relieve pressure on the 8,000-plus farmers still waiting on GLAS and AEOS payments – we only have to look to France and Scotland where zero interest loans were advanced.

The minister must also move to reassure farmers that such delays will not be repeated. Farmers who comply with schemes and incur the costs have a right to expect payment in line with the agreed terms.