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Delayed payments for GLAS training courses have left some private agricultural consultants out of pocket by tens of thousands of euro.
GLAS training must be completed by 31 December, with farmers receiving €158 from the Department of Agriculture following completion and the adviser receiving €80 per farmer.
The Department had indicated that it would pay farmers within 30 days of completing the course.
However, payments to farmers have been delayed to as long as three months at this stage.
Advisers
Advisers who ran multiple training courses for large numbers of farmers are also owed thousands. The Department has said they will be paid in January but they fear it will be later.
Agricultural consultant Tom Canning is one of the trainers owed tens of thousands.
“I ran 31 training courses with 23 farmers per course,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal. “At €80 per farmer, I am owed €57,040. I’ve already paid out €27,000 to run those courses between venue hire and other costs.
“I’m in serious trouble. I need to extend my credit and I’ve asked the Department for three weeks in a row for an email on headed paper to say when I will be paid but I got no response.
“I’ll have to sell cattle and dig into savings to pay wages until I get paid.”
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