The Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme is an EU co-funded scheme and is governed by the relevant EU Regulations. Those regulations require that to participate in the scheme, an application to participate in the scheme must be made when completing an application for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) via the single application system available on the Department's on-line facility, www.agfood.ie, by the relevant closing date.
The EU regulations set out the criteria against which appeals may be considered by the Department under the grounds of Force Majeure and Exceptional Circumstances and these criteria must be applied by my Department in accordance with the regulations.
The appeals process allows for both an appeal to officials of the Department, and the option of a further appeal to the Agriculture Appeals Office should an applicant not be satisfied with the decision of the Department and this option was availed of by both of the persons named. This office is an independent office established to provide farmers with an appeals service to farmers who are dissatisfied with decisions made by the Department concerning designated schemes operated by the Department.
My Department has continuously sought to improve and refine the application systems in place to ensure that the application process for all schemes administered by my Department are as simple as possible and that assistance is available for applicants when submitting their application.
The application process for the Basic Payment Scheme requires applicants to confirm if they wish to apply for the ANC scheme or not by selecting one of two options “I want to apply for ANC” or “I do not want to apply for ANC”. The system will not allow an applicant for the BPS to progress past this point until they select one of these two options.
Where an applicant has selected “I do not want to apply for ANC” and had received payment under the scheme in the previous scheme year, they will be prompted with a message on screen to warn them that they had received payment under the scheme in the previous scheme year but have not applied in the current scheme year. They are advised that if they are eligible under the scheme and wish to apply they should select “I want to apply for ANC”. They are also advised that if they do not want to apply, they should select “I do not want to apply for ANC” to continue their BPS application.
For applications under the 2021 Scheme, my Department issued a Brief Guide to the 2021 Areas of Natural Constraints scheme to eligible 2020 scheme applicants. This guide included a section detailing how to apply for the 2021 scheme, including screen shots of the application process to aid people in submitting their application.
My Department has also made every effort to open the online application process at the earliest possible opportunity to provide applicants with as much time as possible to prepare and submit their ANC applications, or to make arrangements to seek assistance in submitting their application, such as using the services of an Agricultural Advisor to assist in the submission of their application.
For 2021, the application facility opened on the 18th of February 2021. The deadline for receipt of applications under the 2021 scheme was the 17th of May 2021.
My Department also operates a direct payments telephone helpdesk which applicants can contact for assistance in submitting their ANC application. Over the last number of years, the helpdesk has operated extended opening hours in advance of the closing date for submission of BPS/ANC applications.
In advance of the 2021 application deadline the helpdesk was open between 9.15am and 9.00pm from Monday 10th May to Friday 14th May, from 9.30am to 5.00pm on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May and between 9.15am and 12 midnight on 17th May.
Between the years 2018 and 2020, the number of eligible applications under the ANC scheme increased from 103,393 to 104,790. The number of applicants paid under the scheme also increased from 95,802 applicants paid under the 2018 scheme to 99,588 currently paid under the 2019 scheme. The value of payments also increased between 2018 and 2019 from €229.3m in 2018 to €248m in 2019.
Currently a total of 98,800 applicants have been paid a total of €247m under the 2020 ANC scheme. My Department continues to carry out weekly payment runs in relation to the 2020 scheme year in order to issue payment to additional cases that become clear for payment. The number of farmers not receiving ANC payments for reasons other than stocking density remains low as a percentage of eligible applicants.
