Over 330 locals share €1.27m in GLAS payments

A TOTAL of 334 County Wicklow farmers received GLAS advance payments totalling €1.27 million recently.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, T.D. confirmed in recent days that the next installment of payments under the 2017 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening has now commenced.

‘In mid- October my Department began issuing 70 per cent advance payments under the BPS to farmers across the country. Regular pay runs have been in place since to ensure that these payments are processed as efficiently as possible. I am happy to confirm that the 30 per cent balancing payments under the BPS have now commenced on schedule,’ he said.

The rollout of balancing payments brings the total paid under the Basic Payment Scheme to €1.106bn, and 121,000 farmers have received a payment to date. In addition, over 90,000 farmers have been paid a total of €194m under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) Scheme to date.

Payments to Wicklow farmers under the 2017 National Reserve and the Young Farmers Scheme will also commence in the coming week following payment of the BPS balancing payment.

The Minister said that the Department is continuing to prioritise the processing of outstanding cases.

‘I can confirm that every effort continues to be made to clear for payment the small percentage of outstanding cases. Regular pay runs will continue in December in order to process cases as quickly as possible. I am particularly pleased that we have continued to process payments at a rate that compares very favourably to the systems in place in other Member States.’

He urged farmers who may have outstanding queries from the Department to respond as soon as possible so that payments can be processed.