The union said that there was now the prospect of funding for NI farmers from the £623m RDP budget being lost.

“There are no signs whatsoever of key measures in the programme coming into force any time soon. There are business cases for some of the schemes still not even submitted or approved at this stage,” said UFU deputy president Ivor Ferguson.

In response, a DAERA spokesperson said that 34% of NI's RDP has been allocated to schemes so far. "According to the Commission, Northern Ireland is in the top five programmes across the EU for declared spend," the spokesperson said.

Criticism

In a strongly worded statement, the UFU described the rollout of the programme by DAERA officials as “pathetic,” abysmal” and “bordering on the farcical”.

The RDP included the £100m Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) and the £220m Farm Business Improvement Scheme, which covered the Business Development Group initiative and the Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the capital grant scheme.

“From EFS to the Farm Business Improvement Scheme, the entire RDP has been tainted by negativity and failure to deliver. We are inundated with calls every week from farmers asking for updates. We can give no answer, other than to point to fundamental failings by DAERA,” Ferguson said.

Stormont

He also drew attention to the absence of a Stormont Executive since February and the impact it has had on delivering for farmers through having ”no mechanism to apply pressure to officials.”

Comparing NI’s RDP to the Republic of Ireland, Ferguson said that 70% of the Republic’s €4bn budget has been spent, with the agri environment scheme (GLAS) opened three times and the capital grant scheme (TAMS) opening annually since 2014.

“Our closest neighbour is blazing ahead, taking full advantage of EU rural development funding,” Ferguson said.

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