In respect of the Single Payment Scheme the earliest payment date under the governing EU rules is 1 December. However, earlier this year I successfully sought the approval of the Commissioner to have advance payments made as and from 16 October, my approach to the Commissioner having being prompted by the protracted unseasonable weather which prevailed throughout the country, which culminated in the serious national fodder shortage and led to severe financial and animal welfare difficulties for farmers. The 50% advance payments commenced, on target, on 16 October and, to date, payments worth €582 million have issued to over 115,000 farmers. Payments continue to issue on a twice-weekly basis, as individual cases are confirmed eligible for payment. Table 1 sets out the Single Farm payments made, to date, on a county basis.
Payments under the 2013 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme begin issuing, on target, on 25 September. While there is no regulatory date by which DAS payments must commence, it is generally recognised and indeed acknowledged in the Farmers’ Charter, that the third week in September of any given year is the earliest feasible payment date, given the volume and complexity of processing involved. To date, payments worth €178 million have issued to over 84,000 farmers. Payments continue to issue on a twice weekly basis, with individual cases being paid 100% of the amount due as they are confirmed eligible.
It should be appreciated, however, that many applicants, who declare land situated in a Disadvantaged Area are not eligible for payment under the Scheme. Many of these applicants do not maintain any animals and those that do maintain animals do not keep sufficient livestock to meet the minimum stocking density of 0.15 livestock units per hectare. This is a normal feature of the Disadvantaged Area Scheme. I should emphasise, however, that many of those currently showing as having insufficient stock will ultimately satisfy the requirement – the minimum retention period being seven consecutive months. I expect that there will be a steady flow of cases each month where compliance with this retention period will be confirmed, thereby allowing payments to issue. Table 2 sets out the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme payments made, to date, on a county basis.
Successive EU audits have made it clear that payments should not issue under Area Based schemes, including Single Farm and Disadvantaged Areas, until all queries associated with an application are resolved. Therefore, while I fully appreciate the difficulties that farmers have faced this year as highlighted by the Deputy, it would not be appropriate to make advance payments on cases that have not been cleared. I have, however, made it clear that every effort will be made to resolve all outstanding cases as soon as possible and have assigned additional resources to ensure this.
Table 1: 2013 Single Payment Scheme
|
County
|
Applied
|
Paid
|
Value of payments
|
|
CARLOW
|
1,608
|
1,445
|
€11,165,362.05
|
|
CAVAN
|
4,670
|
4,400
|
€17,101,817.29
|
|
CLARE
|
6,000
|
5,817
|
€23,765,610.01
|
|
CORK
|
12,786
|
12,153
|
€81,147,522.53
|
|
DONEGAL
|
7,945
|
7,297
|
€22,177,936.36
|
|
DUBLIN
|
608
|
573
|
€4,331,355.64
|
|
GALWAY
|
11,675
|
10,942
|
€37,676,963.57
|
|
KERRY
|
7,547
|
7,023
|
€27,318,346.51
|
|
KILDARE
|
2,021
|
1,793
|
€14,257,290.43
|
|
KILKENNY
|
3,414
|
3,236
|
€26,669,751.77
|
|
LAOIS
|
2,891
|
2,751
|
€19,918,552.11
|
|
LEITRIM
|
3,313
|
3,058
|
€8,137,306.39
|
|
LIMERICK
|
5,014
|
4,705
|
€24,824,064.40
|
|
LONGFORD
|
2,319
|
2,203
|
€9,600,750.60
|
|
LOUTH
|
1,469
|
1,370
|
€9,149,226.56
|
|
MAYO
|
11,264
|
10,456
|
€28,800,631.42
|
|
MEATH
|
3,674
|
3,485
|
€26,128,153.30
|
|
MONAGHAN
|
3,908
|
3,775
|
€15,161,397.21
|
|
OFFALY
|
2,981
|
2,809
|
€17,953,552.63
|
|
ROSCOMMON
|
5,586
|
5,182
|
€19,207,647.03
|
|
SLIGO
|
3,870
|
3,576
|
€10,834,785.47
|
|
TIPPERARY
|
6,837
|
6,558
|
€49,632,971.32
|
|
WATERFORD
|
2,379
|
2,282
|
€19,112,669.56
|
|
WESTMEATH
|
2,888
|
2,672
|
€16,174,331.35
|
|
WEXFORD
|
3,971
|
3,664
|
€28,431,720.58
|
|
WICKLOW
|
2,057
|
1,915
|
€13,359,706.89
|
|
TOTALS
|
122,695
|
115,140
|
€582,039,422.98
|
Table 2: 2013 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme
|
County
|
Applied
|
Paid
|
Value of payments
|
|
Carlow
|
770
|
605
|
€1,177,583.20
|
|
Cavan
|
4,941
|
4,200
|
€8,776,690.06
|
|
Clare
|
6,245
|
5,349
|
€12,253,734.33
|
|
Cork
|
7,299
|
6,000
|
€13,369,031.65
|
|
Donegal
|
8,720
|
6,602
|
€15,193,351.21
|
|
Dublin
|
152
|
98
|
€214,314.12
|
|
Galway
|
12,368
|
9,892
|
€20,692,366.20
|
|
Kerry
|
7,888
|
6,234
|
€14,868,771.00
|
|
Kildare
|
548
|
403
|
€689,909.76
|
|
Kilkenny
|
1,829
|
1,537
|
€3,078,472.39
|
|
Laois
|
1,753
|
1,462
|
€2,773,157.98
|
|
Leitrim
|
3,541
|
2,896
|
€6,391,351.04
|
|
Limerick
|
3,005
|
2,418
|
€4,522,237.00
|
|
Longford
|
2,431
|
2,061
|
€4,335,895.42
|
|
Louth
|
824
|
620
|
€1,003,771.88
|
|
Mayo
|
11,963
|
9,246
|
€19,418,291.81
|
|
Meath
|
1,377
|
1,109
|
€1,907,629.61
|
|
Monaghan
|
4,192
|
3,572
|
€6,864,841.07
|
|
Offaly
|
2,473
|
2,021
|
€3,800,524.32
|
|
Roscommon
|
5,878
|
4,663
|
€9,950,646.96
|
|
Sligo
|
4,169
|
3,258
|
€6,932,927.69
|
|
Tipperary
|
4,643
|
3,823
|
€7,794,269.72
|
|
Waterford
|
1,501
|
1,232
|
€2,402,134.14
|
|
Westmeath
|
2,715
|
2,226
|
€4,259,869.58
|
|
Wexford
|
1,554
|
1,158
|
€2,022,316.81
|
|
Wicklow
|
1,849
|
1,474
|
€3,465,444.83
|
|
TOTALS
|
104,628
|
84,159
|
€178,159,533.78
|
