100,000 farmers waiting on Disadvantaged Area payments

MORE than 100,000 farmers are still awaiting Disadvantaged Area payments, it emerged yesterday.

Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith came under increased pressure yesterday from both the ICMSA and the IFA over ongoing delays in full Disadvantaged Area payments.

The two main farming bodies said 100,000 farmers are still awaiting the full direct payments, overdue since mid-September, as a result of processing problems and difficulties with maps.

ICMSA deputy president and chairman of its Farm Services and Environment Committee, John Comer, said: “It is absolutely ridiculous. Farmers only received letters regarding errors in September for applications that were submitted back in May. They are rightly asking why these letters were not sent out during the summer so that errors could be resolved well in advance of payment dates.”

Mr Comer welcomed the minister’s statement regarding the speeding up of payments, but added that the Farmers’ Charter commitment to pay the Disadvantaged Area payments in full in September had been breached through no fault of the farmer.

Meanwhile, IFA president John Bryan led a protest at the Department of Agriculture offices in Portlaoise to highlight the frustration and anger among thousands of farmers who have had their direct payments delayed.