Serious challenge to farming

A THIRD “budget” within 10 months in the Department of Agriculture sums up the state of the economy.

With the department spending €355m per year on REPS, it was perhaps inevitable it would be closed to new applications – even though 62,000 farmers have come to depend on continuing REPS payments.

The scheme had to close in order to keep within its budgetary allocation for the coming years, said Minister Brendan Smith.