Under the EU Regulations governing the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) and the Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS) a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must be completed before any payment can issue.
My Department as the accredited Paying Agency must ensure that, before payment issues, everything in an application that can be checked is checked as required under the regulations. Therefore, payments can only issue where all the required validation checks have been successfully passed.
In relation to 2016 payments, under AEOS the previous agri-environment Scheme, just over 8,600 AEOS participants were due a payment. AEOS II participants completed their 5-year contracts on 31 December 2016. Under the EU Regulations governing this Scheme and all other area-based payment schemes, a full check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System must take place before the final payment can issue. As all AEOS II participants will be receiving their final payments under the scheme, re-checks on payments made for all scheme years must be completed before final payment can be processed. This is the same procedure as applied to AEOS 1 participants finishing in that Scheme.
To date, AEOS 2016 payments amounting to over €22m have issued. The remaining cases are currently being checked and payments will continue to issue on an ongoing weekly basis as these cases are cleared.
A total of 8,640 farmers nationally were due a 2016 payment in AEOS of which 6,935 have been paid and 1,705 are awaiting payment.
2016 payments represent the first full year of payment under GLAS. At the end of December 2016, there were approximately 37,500 active participants in the GLAS scheme, of which 27,400 or over 71% received payments valued at over €97m, representing 85% of their 2016 payment.
As issues with outstanding GLAS cases are resolved they are being paid in weekly payment runs. Further payments are issuing on a weekly basis with payments valued at over €110m now issued and over 84% of participants now paid. Further payments are issuing on a weekly basis.
Some 25,578 farmers are active GLAS 1 and a further 11,577 are active in GLAS 2 nationally of which 21,686 in GLAS 1 and 9,524 in GLAS 2 have successfully completed the GLAS prepayment checks in respect of the 2016 scheme year and a first payment instalment of 85% has issued.
The current position is that 3,832 farmers in GLAS 1 and 2,053 farmers in GLAS 2 have yet to receive their payment and their applications continue to be processed.
The balancing payment due will issue later in the year when the last of the required on the spot inspections has been initiated.
Payments under the Scheme will continue to issue on an ongoing basis as issues are resolved and cases are cleared for payment.
I am satisfied that all available European Union funds available will be fully drawn down over the programming period.
