Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2017
477. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress in the development of the information technology systems for GLAS payments in view of the fact that there are still a considerable number of persons waiting for payment. [42927/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn the context of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, my Department has delivered over 20 new schemes, including GLAS, that were supported by IT capability. In relation to GLAS, payments my Department has an excellent record in the delivery of high-quality ICT systems. We have been consistently among the first to make payments in the EU.
During the 2016 GLAS advance prepayment checking process, some information technology issues arose. Substantial work has been done to ensure that the system is well placed to process future payments. Some 99.5% and 98% of all 2015 and 2016 applicants, respectively, have been paid their advance.
Currently, the biggest delay in paying 2016 GLAS balancing payments is caused by delays in the submission of outstanding Nutrient Management Plans, NMP. The NMP is a core scheme requirement, and I urge all GLAS 1 and 2 participants and their Advisors to attend to this urgently so that outstanding balancing payments and future payments can issue and to ensure ongoing participation in the Scheme. As of October 6, just under 7,745 NMPs remained outstanding. Further GLAS 1 and 2 payments cannot issue until a NMP is submitted to the dedicated online NMP system.
