100,000 farmers set for BPS refund
Cattle wander on the seafront at Lickowen strand on Toe Head, West Cork. Picture: David Creedon, Alamy Live News.
Payments of over €13.35m will be issued to approximately 100,000 farmers this week as the Department of Agriculture rolls out the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) refund.
This money was deducted from farmers’ 2019 BPS payments under the Financial Discipline rule and is now being reimbursed in line with the EU regulations.
Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue said he was pleased that the monies were being reimbursed to farmers.
“I am pleased to confirm that these payments are now being reimbursed to eligible farmers," he continued.
“These payments will bring the total paid to Irish farmers under the 2019 Basic Payment Scheme to over €1.194bn."
Meanwhile, the financial discipline mechanism involves a monetary deduction - 1.4% for the 2019 reduction - from some direct payments creating a financial Crisis Reserve for the EU.
The crisis reserve is intended to provide additional support for the agricultural sector in the case of major crises affecting agricultural production or distribution.
In the event that the Crisis Reserve is not activated in the financial year, or it is not fully utilised, the unused balance is refunded to farmers in the subsequent financial year.
