At a meeting with Department of Agriculture officials this week, IFA Rural Development Chairman Joe Brady demanded that GLAS and TAMS payments be moved on as the delays are totally unacceptable.
Joe Brady said GLAS payments are a vital lifeline for thousands of farmers. With 38,000 due a payment (26,000 joined in May 2015), all farmers have incurred costs to comply, including planning fees. As a result, cashflow difficulties have emerged on many of these farms.
The IFA Rural Development Chairman reminded the Department of the Charter of Rights commitment that payments would commence in October. “This commitment has not been honoured and it is up to Minister Creed to intervene in this matter urgently.”
In relation to TAMS, IFA expressed concern about the delays in processing applications made by farmers. Joe Brady told the Department that this must be speeded up. IFA is reminding farmers who have completed work under TAMS to submit their application.
GLAS III
The Department has informed IFA that 7,500 farmers have so far applied. The scheme closes on December 15th and it is vitally important that all applications are accepted to bring the total in GLAS to 50,000. “The full allocation for GLAS must be €250m, as set out in the Rural Development Programme,” Joe Brady concluded.