Farmers not ready for REPS planning

IRELAND is still some distance away from allowing farmers to do their own REPS planning, said Michael O’Donovan of the Department of Agriculture and Food during a recent presentation, on REPS 3, to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food.

He said many other EU member states do not use professional agriculturists in their agri-environment schemes. “It is an issue we are constantly reviewing and we considered it seriously for those engaging in extensive farming, or those following only a single farming method. We felt unable to go that far at this stage but we will bear it in mind for the future.

“The message should go out that we feel we have made changes which will enable planners to charge less money. If that does not happen, and I speak for the Minister for Agriculture and Food in this regard, we will look again at the role of the planner”, said Mr O’Donovan.