The Government is misleading farmers by calling the new environmental scheme ‘REPS 2’, according to IFA president Tim Cullinan.

In a stinging criticism of its recently announced pilot, Cullinan said despite what the Government says, the new agri-environment scheme bore little or no similarity to the original REPS.

“Attempts by the Government to equate this proposed new scheme to the old REPS is misleading and complete spin,” he said.

Recently published proposals from the Department of Agriculture contain no reference to REPS and instead contain the loose term of “agri-environment results-based pilot project”.

However, at the recent IFA AGM, Taoiseach Michéal Martin referred directly to REPS, saying €1.5bn from carbon tax revenues had been allocated to “a REPS-2 programme to encourage and incentivise farmers to farm in a greener and more sustainable way”.

Whole-field approach

IFA rural development chair Michael Biggins said: “The old REPS scheme was a whole-farm scheme, which paid farmers an area-based payment for carrying out environmental actions in accordance with a plan specific to the farm.

“The proposed pilot will be a ‘whole-field’ approach. Farmers are to be scored on set criteria, mainly based on the existing quality of features, which will establish the 2021 payment.”

Base payment rates will be decided on the basis of costs incurred and income foregone, similar to GLAS, with further payments for results achieved.

Payments

Biggins said the proposed new scheme will not deliver for farmers, with several conditions beyond their control such as weather that can have an impact on the results achieved.

“What farmers need is a meaningful scheme which pays a base payment of €10,000. Payments based on results would need to be on top of this.”

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