Applications for farm payments to go online only in 2018
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has confirmed that the EU requires 75% of Basic Payment Scheme beneficiaries to apply online in 2017, and 100% in 2018.
EU regulations also set out that Member States take steps to provide for online (geo-spatial) applications.
“In order to ensure that these regulatory requirements are met, my department has been moving certain categories of farmers to online application in 2015 and 2016.
“This process will continue as we move towards the 2018 regulatory target,” said Mr Coveney.
About 70% of Irish farmers (93,000) applied online in 2015.
This year, online applications are expected to increase again, and to exceed 100,000, because about 4,600 GLAS farmers must also use online BPS application, in addition to its use since 2015 required by farmers in partnerships, or in the Organic Farming Scheme.
Many others have opted voluntarily for online application for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), the Greening Scheme, and the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) Scheme. Farmers can apply online as individuals or through an agent.
Benefits of applying online include the earlier application date (March 3 this year), pre-checking, instant confirmation of receipt of applications, reduced application errors, greater accuracy, use of online maps, text alerts from the Department, payment on time, and online linkage to other schemes such as GLAS.
Also, in-built online validations will help ensure consistency between GLAS and BPS applications.
The gradual move to 100% online application required by the EU was revealed last week in the Dail by Mr Coveney, in reply to a question from Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris, who voiced concerns about older farmers and farmers in areas poorly served by broadband coping with the requirement.
Only 85% of addresses in Ireland will have access to high-speed broadband services by 2018, even in the Government’s much-maligned National Broadband Plan, in which fast broadband to all addresses is not scheduled until 2020.
Online application for payments was introduced by the Department of Agriculture in 2007.
From 2012, an electronic mapping facility allowed for more accurate updating of land parcels, reducing penalties for farmers and speeding up processing of applications.
The introduction of the new Basic Payment Scheme in 2015 necessitated a new online application system.
This involved complex programming issues, and Minister Coveney revealed this year that it caused problems for 678 applicants who had to draw maps on an amendment form.
These maps were not visible to farmers or their agents, but were not lost, and farmers were not disadvantaged and their payment applications were processed as normal.
This issue has since been resolved, and continuing improvements are being made to the new on-line system, according to Mr Coveney.
