Over 16,000 applications to transfer entitlements for 2014 have been received by the Department of Agriculture to date.

Of these, 8,000 were for sales, with an additional 2,000 gift transfers submitted. The remainder of applications are for administration or legal changes or due to inheritance.

The Department said that it has processed 43% of applications at this stage and is prioritising sale transfers. It says good progress is being made and it still hopes to have all transfers completed by early October to avoid any delays in payments.

The Department has written to 1,200 farmers asking them for additional information.

These applications cannot be processed further until a reply has been received.

One issue that is arising is where the value of entitlements being sold was given as the gross value, not the net value, after the linear reduction.

The buyer and seller have to be contacted to ensure they want to process at the lower value.

SCWS payments

Just under €250,000 has been paid out under the Suckler Cow Welfare Scheme (SCWS)in the last week. The payments went as far back as 2008, the first year of the scheme. Table 1 shows the amount paid out and the number of animals for which payments were made. The payment was €80/head in 2008 but dropped to €40 in the following years. The Dept is processing, but the window for farmers to return info to clear payments is closing.