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Department also issues €3.2m in GLAS payments in August

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., has announced that his Department is issuing payments to farmers under TAMS (the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme II) at an average rate of over €1m per week this month. TAMS II payments to farmers will reach almost €5m by the end of the month bringing the total amount paid to date under TAMS II to over €21.25m.

Commenting on these payments the Minister said “I am delighted with the level of interest shown in the TAMS scheme and in these huge payment figures for August. We are on track to pay out an average of over €1m per week for this month. It reflects the significant on-farm investment underway in Ireland as farmers here continue to develop their enterprises. We will continue to make payments on a weekly basis. I would urge all farmers to proceed with their approved investments and to submit these for payment as soon as the works have been completed to allow for payment to issue.”

The online payments system remains open to participants to submit their payment claims as soon as the approved works are completed. Currently, over 1,500 farmers have received their payment to date with payments being processed on an ongoing basis. The current tranche of this scheme closes for new applications on 6 October 2017. August is also looking like a huge month for GLAS payments with the Department paying out €3m to GLAS participants in the last fortnight. This brings to €144m the amount issued to GLAS participants to date in respect of 2016 actions.

The Minister commented “I am delighted with these significant GLAS payments, especially the €3m we issued in the last fortnight as we continue to pay balancing payments to eligible farmers. 4,000 farmers received their balancing payment in the last two weeks as a direct result of submitting their Farm Nutrient Management Plan (NMP). Further GLAS payments to GLAS I and GLAS II participants can only be made when their plan has been submitted and I would encourage all GLAS participants to work with their advisor and have this plan submitted as soon as possible”.

The Minister also noted that there are still some (less than 950) remaining GLAS applicants who must submit outstanding documentation or other information to the Department if their 2016 advance payment is to be processed. The Minister encouraged these applicants to respond to the Department as quickly as possible in order to try and advance their payment.

Concluding, Minister Creed said “my Department will continue to make ongoing payments to farmers under the Rural Development Programme. I am delighted to see this surge in payments over the last few weeks with thousands of farmers around the Country receiving new payments as a result of their participation in the various RDP schemes. We are committed to continuing these payments on a weekly basis to eligible participants”.