Farmers claim EU money for non-existant sheep

16 farmers in Northern Ireland, who are claiming EU sheep premiums, were found to possess no sheep at all after the foot-and-mouth cull earlier this year.

The North's Agriculture minister, Brid Rodgers, said farmers who claimed fraudulently would be penalised and possibly prosecuted.

She said that in South Armagh, where 93 farmers had their animals killed, 58 were found to have had fewer sheep on their farms than they were claiming for, with 16 owning no sheep at all.

Of these, 17 had a shortfall of up to 20% and 41 were more than 20% short.

It means that nearly a third of farmers in South Armagh, were claiming EU premiums for which no sheep existed.

In Cushendall, Co Antrim, where 106 farmers were claiming sheep premiums, 48 farmers were found to be short. 36 farmers were up to 20% short, and 12 were short by more than 20%.

One farmer had no sheep at all.

In Ardboe, the third area where foot-and-mouth culls were carried out, there was no statistically significant evidence of over-claiming.