The issue of delayed GLAS payments due to maps requiring redigitisation was again raised in a parliamentary question by Fianna Fáil agriculture spokesperson Charlie McConalogue.

Minister Creed admitted that redigitisation has occurred in some instances: “Parcels are redigitised for a number of reasons, including changes submitted by the herd owner on the annual BPS application, Department ground and remote sensing inspections and reviews when new imagery is received.”

Figures were not available in relation to the number of applicants who have had to get maps redigitised through the scheme. However, Minister Creed outlined that the majority of cases where a BPS application needed amending in order to receive GLAS payments was in relation to crop codes and not the redigitisation of maps.

According to the Department, redigitisation is required where a farmer submits an update to his maps when he makes his BPS application. It can also occur where the Department has carried out inspections and is making changes in response to this. Additionally, changes can also be made where the Department is uploading land details on foot of new ortho-photography, which is received on an ongoing basis.

The same mapping system is used for both BPS and GLAS applications, so a change to one means that a corresponding change must be accounted for in the other, but there are no issues of incompatibility between the two systems, the Department has stated.

Frustration

Many farmers and advisers have become frustrated with the continued delays that are experienced annually in relation to GLAS payments, with IT issues often raised as a cause of delay. IT support is provided through a mixture of internal staff in combination with external resources.

In the past three years, a total of €19m has been spent on external IT support systems, with approximately half of this being spent on GLAS, TAMS, Knowledge Transfer and Organic Farming schemes.

To date, over 46,700 farmers have received their 85% advance payment, with nearly 2,600 farmers left to be paid.

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