It is the policy of my Department to fully comply with the terms of the Prompt Payment of Accounts Act 1997 and with the Regulations on combating late payment in commercial transactions. However, this legislation only refers to payments for the provision of goods or services to the Department and its terms, including the payment of interest, and is not applicable to applications made under the Single Payment Scheme.
Insofar as payments to eligible applicants under the 2005 Single Payment Scheme National Reserve is concerned my Department gave priority to the processing and payment of the 2005 Single Payment Scheme which is worth some €1.26 billion to Irish farmers. Payments under the scheme commenced on schedule on 1 December 2005 with over €1 billion paid by the end of that month. Processing of applications from over 17,000 farmers under the 2005 Single Payment Scheme proved to be time consuming mainly because of the anti-accumulation measures contained in the EU legislation and the fact that over 6,000 farmers applied under more than one category resulting in over 23,000 applications having to be processed. Payment to eligible applicants under the 2005 National Reserve commenced during week commencing 10 April 2006.
