Thousands will be excluded from REPS 3 scheme

REPS 3 payments will not be backdated to the scheme's intended starting date of January 1, 2004.

It also now appears certain that thousands of moderately intensive farmers, who had hoped to come within the scope of the scheme, will not be eligible whenever REPS 3 is officially approved by the European Commission.

Following the Commission's rejection of Ireland's proposals for implementing REPS 3 here, the Department of Agriculture has sent revised proposals to Brussels, which provide for greater restriction of the scale of farming in REPS.