Farmers raise security fears over publication of payment details

EU plans to publish details of payments made to farmers raises concerns over security and fairness, ICMSA president John Comer has said.

The publication will include recipients’ names and addresses, the amount each is receiving and a breakdown of payments. The figures will be presented on a specific website in each EU state. There will be a minimum threshold below which details would remain private.

Mr Comer said Irish farmers have legitimate fears that such a website would arouse the interest of criminals. “We have a major problem with a publicly accessible website that lists the name, address, and amount paid to individual farmers in an environment where more and more we see rural residents being targeted deliberately by criminal elements, and all against a background of a programme to close rural Garda stations.