€85m boost for agriculture as minister brings forward payments

A total of €85 million in agricultural payments has been brought forward by Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Brendan Smith to ease the cash flow difficulties being experienced by farm families.

It is comprised of €45m in second instalment Farm Waste Management Scheme grants and €39m in Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) payments.

By the end of this year, the department says it will have paid out €1.24bn in single farm payments, €369m in the REPS and €286m in the waste scheme.