Single Payment entitlements major unresolved issue
Now, how to allocate Single Payment entitlements from the National Reserve of these entitlements is the latest potentially divisive and inequitable issue among farmers, thrown up by the CAP reform.
For the Minister and her officials in the Department of Agriculture making the allocations, they are damned whichever way they turn on this one
Based on the average single payment per District Electoral Division in the country, entitlements from the National Reserve could be worth anything from €26 to €700 per hectare per year.
There are more than 500 DEDs where the average payment is less than €200/ha. The average pay-out in others is up to €698.58/ha.
Where he or she happens to farm will make a difference of up to €673 per hectare per year for a farmer getting National Reserve entitlements.
But if these entitlements are based on the national average, they will be worth about €270/ha each.
Whether the Minister and her Department go for a national average or a DED average, some farmers will end up getting higher National Reserve entitlements than the entitlements they earned from their work during 2000, 2001 and 2002, the reference years on which entitlements are based.
A hardworking farmer could get as little as €26/ha, if that is the DED average, while a neighbour who took it easy during the reference years could get at least €270/ha.
Yet more Single Payment anomalies and inequities are on the way to leave many farmers with a sour taste in the mouth.
