Details of farmers’ payments published

INFORMATION on Irish farmers, including their names, EU funding payments and early retirement plans, have been published on the Department of Agriculture website despite concerns from the farming sector that the details will be a “charter for nosey parkers”.

An EU ruling has made it obligatory for data about those in receipt of EU agricultural payments to be published for transparency purposes.

The information will be used by national or EU audit or investigation bodies for the protection of its financial interests, according to the EU.