Payments delay is ‘stressing’ farmers

CONCERNS are growing among a “substantial number of farmers” still awaiting their BPS/Greening payments, the ICMSA has warned.

Pat McCormack, deputy president of ICMSA, confirmed that a significant number of farmers are still waiting on payments to be lodged - more than two weeks after payments started to be issued.

“It is impossible to exaggerate the kind of stress involved where individuals have bills ‘queued up’ and repayment schedules waiting for these payments to be lodged only to have to watch as very often interest and penalties are triggered through the non-receipt of the payments due,” he said.

He said farmers are struggled to understand reasons for the delay.

“The unfortunate reality that everyone – including the Department – has to grasp is that there are very many cases where the BPS/ Greening payment now comprises 100pc of farm income and these kind of inexplicable delays are causing really stress and financial hardship for the farmers in question”

“We know dozens of farmers are making contact with the Department about satellite inspections and entitlement issues. We’d ask the Department to really make an effort and try and ensure that queries are dealt with expeditiously and with some degree of understanding for the dire straits that many are in,” he said.