The Department publishes a weekly scheme payments update. As of Friday, 25 January, the position is as set out:
GLAS:
The GLAS scheme was fully subscribed following the third and final Tranche, GLAS 3, which closed for applications in December 2016.
The position for participants under existing GLAS five-year contracts is as follows: at the end of December 2018, there were 49,100 active GLAS participants in all three tranches. To date, 44,275 GLAS participants have received their 2018 advance payment and are fully up-to-date with their payments.
In relation to outstanding 2018 payments, a significant proportion relate to applicants who have not yet fulfilled the requirements for payment. Non-compliances include the non-submission of Commonage Management Plans and Nutrient Management Plans, GLAS 1 and 2 cases where the mandatory GLAS training has not been completed, Low Emission Slurry Spreading and Rare Breeds forms not returned or cases where the GLAS participant has omitted to update the Department on issues crucial to the payment process.
Sheep Welfare Scheme:
The table shows the current position with regards to year 2 of the Sheep Welfare Scheme:
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Scheme Year:
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Yr 2 (2018)
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Total Number of applications:
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20,549
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Number of applications withdrawn:
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892
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Number of applications remaining:
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19,657
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Number of eligible applications:
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18,738
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Number of applicants paid:
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18,607
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Participants in the scheme are required to submit their Sheep Census return within the specified timeframe for each year of participation in the scheme. The late or non-submission of applicants' Sheep Census as required under the Scheme terms and conditions is the primary reason for outstanding payments at this stage.
Knowledge Transfer:
The Knowledge Transfer, KT, Programme is a three-year scheme. The first two years of the Programme have been completed.
In Year 1, there were approximately 19,100 eligible participants, of which approximately 19,000 have been paid a total of €12.5 million. Remaining applications are being cleared on a case-by-case basis.
Following the conclusion of year 2 of the KT Programme, some 18,700 participants are due a full or partial payment. Payments to farmers in respect of year two of the programme commenced in October 2018 in line with the Farmers Charter commitment, with some €9.9 million issuing to some 15,400 farmers. The remaining year two participant payments are being processed as a matter of priority, and payments are continuing as more farmers meet their commitments to qualify for payment.
In addition to the farmer payments, facilitator payments of approximately €12.9 million have also issued in respect of year one and year two combined. The facilitator payment is made once the 25 working day participant pay-over period has elapsed and the Department receives confirmation from the facilitator that the farmer payments have been made via the appropriate procedures.
Outstanding payments relate, in the main to, the following issues:
- Changes of herd ownership during the scheme year;
- The submission of a BPS application in a Herd/Registered Farm Partnership number other than that used to register/participate in the Knowledge Transfer Programme;
- the manual submission of scheme completion information.
All of the above require significant additional investigation and subsequent manual intervention within the payment system in order to confirm all requirements have been completed and submitted correctly and cleared for payment.
Beef Data Genomics Programme:
The Beef Data and Genomics Programme provides for multi-annual payments to farmers for completion of actions which deliver accelerated genetic improvement in the Irish national herd and improvement of its environmental sustainability.
Payments under the 2018 Programme year for both BDGP I and BDGP II commenced in December 2018. A total of 24,543 active participants have received payment.
Where payment has not issued, it is because the participant has not yet been found to be sufficiently compliant with the requirements of the scheme to allow for a payment to issue. Payments will continue to be made to participants over the coming weeks as they become compliant with the requirements of the Programme.
