New EU accession to lower single farm payment

THE accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU is expected to knock another 2% off the Single Farm Payment amounts notified to Irish farmers last week, bringing total deductions to 10%.

Irish farmers are on course to get a total of €1.322 billion, when the final decoupled Dairy Premium is included in 2006.

But reductions of 6% kick in immediately when the first Single Farm Payment is made (fifteen and a half months from now, at the earliest). Modulation takes 3% (rising to 4% in 2006 and 5% in 2007) in order to fund rural development measures.