merrion street

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue T.D., announced payments under the Areas of Natural Constraints scheme have commenced issuing to farmers.

The Minister commented:

“I am delighted to announce that advance payments totalling €182m have issued to 85,000 farmers under the ANC scheme. The ANC scheme is crucial to farm families and I know the importance of getting payments out to applicants as quickly as possible.”

The Minister commented, “ The issuing of these payments in mid-September highlights our commitment to make payments to farmers at the earliest possible time. The ANC payments are a timely and significant financial boost for farmers and for the wider rural economy.”

The Minister continued by saying “Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days and my Department will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria.”

The Minister also confirmed that arrangements are being made by his Department to facilitate payment of the advance of 70% under the Basic Payment Scheme from 17th October 2022. 

The issuing of €182m payment to 85,000 farmers is in line with previous years, with €182m paid to 85,000 farmers at this stage in 2021.

Note for Editors

In line with last year’s arrangement, the payments currently issuing are an 85% advance payment on the ANC Scheme. The 15% of balancing payments are due to commence in early December.

In line with previous years, not all applications are currently cleared for payment under the ANC Scheme.  In particular, many farmers have yet to satisfy the annual average stocking density of 0.15 livestock units per forage hectare for the calendar year.  However, farmers have until 31st December 2022 to do so. Such cases can only be cleared for payment once this requirement has been confirmed.

Regular pay runs will continue in the coming weeks to ensure cleared cases are processed for payment as quickly as possible.  Farmers should submit any outstanding stocking evidence in support of their application to the Department’s Portlaoise Office as soon as possible to facilitate the early release of payments.

ENDS