AEOS payment delays a mark of failure

On Morning Ireland last week Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said that his department was working on overdrive to get REPS and AEOS payments out to farmers to alleviate serious cash flow on farms.

This is the current up-to-date information on payments as of May 1: In last year’s budget a certain amount of money was allocated to fund a new AEOS (3) scheme for up to 6,000 farmers. Applications were lodged prior to Christmas 2012.

As of May 1 the department hasn’t even paid out one single farmer under that new scheme and hasn’t even informed one single farmer as to whether or not they have been accepted into the scheme.

The minister said he cannot act as a bank, but that is exactly what is happening — the funds are being banked by his department and it looks very likely now that no payments under the new scheme announced last year will be paid out until the autumn of this year, Where are our West Cork TDs? Taking 12 months to get payments out is a lot of failure.

Michael O’Sullivan

Castletownbere

Co Cork