Despite no face-to-face appointments between farmers and form fillers this year, there were 64 more Single Applications submitted in Northern Ireland before the 15 May deadline than in 2019. In total 24,494 were submitted for 2020.

“As a result of everyone’s efforts we should be in a position to distribute full payments in October, a first for Northern Ireland's farmers and ahead of every other part of the EU and UK,” DAERA Minister Edwin Poots said.

The Minister outlined that in the run-up to the deadline DAERA staff responded to over 7,000 queries through webchats, emails, and telephone calls, while 1,190 farmers completed their application through the department’s telephone advisory service.

For those yet to return their applications a 1% per day penalty now applies. Farmers can still amend applications without penalty until 9 June, which is a longer window than in previous years.

“I’d like to thank farmers, agents and DAERA staff for working together during this challenging period, to ensure that Single Applications were submitted on time," Minister Poots said.

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