€26.8m rollout of forestry payments

The first tranche of annual tax-free forestry premium payments for 2017 will see €26.8m shared by 6,900 forest owners.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has begun issuing payments to forest owners who applied via www.agfood.ie. A total of €111.6m, including a capital carryover, will issue in 2017.

Agriculture Minister of State, Andrew Doyle, said: “We will continue to process online applications for 2017 forest premiums as they are received, with payments being issued on a weekly basis.