GLAS ‘logjam’ addressed

IFA National Hill Farming Committee Chairman Flor McCarthy recently met officials from the Department of Agriculture to address what the IFA has described as “a logjam” over GLAS payments to commonage farmers.

The IFA said that up to 6,000 farmers are still awaiting payment, worth a combined €4m. Mr McCarthy said, however, that he has received confirmation from the Department that payments will be issued once commonage plans are submitted, and he called on farmers to get their planners to complete plans as soon as possible. He added that, in some cases, plans have been put on the long finger.

“Flor McCarthy told the Department officials that difficulties have arisen as many of the Teagasc/FRS planners who commenced the interim plans last year are no longer engaged in GLAS plans,” an IFA spokesperson said.“Teagasc, which is the body that contracted FRS to do GLAS plans, has to make the necessary service available so that their clients are not left high and dry.”

Mr McCarthy said that in the future Common Agricultural Policies (CAPs), hill farmers need a better environmental scheme than what GLAS currently offers.

He added that a lot of hill land is designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) or Special Protection Area (SPA) and that this needs to be catered for by a meaningful support scheme that recognises such restrictions. He feels the maximum payments needs to double to €10,000, with additional payments for farmers with designated land.