Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 October 2023
59. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he intends to extend the deadline to submit receipts for the national liming programme past 31 October next, considering basic income support scheme payments have not yet been made and many farmers are facing serious financial constraints; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46847/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI want to ask about the national liming programme. While I welcome the fact that the deadline for lime to be spread has been extended, receipts have to be submitted by farmers by Tuesday next.
Can there be flexibility in that regard? Many farmers cannot spread lime on their land right now. I do not see why they should have to buy lime at a time when they have had high input costs. The BISS was paid just this week and many of them are under financial pressure. Can there be a level of flexibility in respect of receipts being submitted?
As the Deputy is aware, on 6 October I announced important flexibility to the lime-spreading deadline under the national liming programme. While the deadline of 31 October remains in place for receipt of claims, and for payment for lime, applicants now have until 31 March 2024 to spread their approved quantity of lime. Approximately 38,500 farmers have been approved for the programme. The extension to the spreading deadline was granted in response to the very challenging weather conditions this year which have significantly impacted soil trafficability.
The programme is supported by the Exchequer as a once-off measure in 2023 in response to the war in Ukraine. There is no funding provision available for the programme next year. Claims for payment, including invoices and receipts with proof of payment, therefore must be submitted by 31 October. This is necessary to allow all administrative checks to be completed this year in order to facilitate payments in 2023 and ensure farmers get paid the funding to cover the money they paid out this year.
On the issue of cashflow on farms, I accept there have been changes to payment dates this year due to the significant changes arising from this being the first year of the CAP strategic plan. As the Deputy is aware, I wrote to farmers in March to outline the payment dates this year. We are delivering on those payment dates. Indeed, on Tuesday, 90% of applicants for a single farm payment or BISS payment had payments issued to their bank accounts. Those payments are landing in bank accounts as we speak and more will arrive in the coming days.
Last week I announced an advance payment under the areas of natural constraint, ANC, scheme. That involved payments totalling €179 million to more than 85,000 farmers. The eco scheme will be paid next Tuesday. We wanted to accommodate farmers as much as possible. We took significant steps in that regard. The team is closely monitoring the intake. I encourage farmers to purchase lime. It makes a lot of sense for them to do so, even without a grant. The grant is an added incentive for farmers to do something that will improve soil fertility but also particularly improve farm profitability and level.
I welcome the fact that the deadline for spreading has been pushed out to next year. I do not see why a farmer would buy lime now that they potentially will not be able to spread until next year, particularly when many of them do not have the money to do so. The BISS payments will make a big difference but they have just hit farmers' bank accounts. In some cases they have not hit accounts due to satellite imaging and the changes thereto. Some farmers will have to respond with more information in that regard before they get their payment. I am unsure how many farmers have been affected by that issue and have not received a BISS payment as a result but there are people who have not received it. Even a week or two would make a difference. I do not see why a farmer would buy lime to sit in a farmyard until next year when there will potentially be an opportunity to spread it. In many cases, the weather in October did not allowed for it to be spread. I ask the Minister to consider allowing flexibility of a week or two, even just to allow farmers to receive their BISS payments in and give them a little leeway after what has been, as he stated, a challenging and expensive year. I have heard from farmers directly on this matter and they are under pressure financially.
I am closely monitoring the situation. I want as many farmers as possible to avail of this. Not enough farmers are spreading lime. It used to be done far more and it needs to be done far more in future. It will help to ensure farmers have more profitability for the work they carry out. That is why, this year, I put in place for the first time a lime scheme. It was great to see the uptake, with almost 40,000 farmers applying for it. I want to make sure as many of them as possible follow through in that regard and do it. The more farmers we can get spreading lime this year, the more will see the benefit of it and continue that practice into the future. I have delivered a significant amount of flexibility in respect of the scheme and I encourage farmers to push on in terms of making their purchases and uploading their receipts by 31 October. I take on board the Deputy's comments and am closely monitoring the situation but I have to work within what is possible with regard to making sure we get those payments to farmers this year. We are running into a very short timeframe now and we have given flexibility. I am closely monitoring the situation.
In light of all that, I ask the Minister to check with the Department how many of the more than 38,000 farmers who applied to the scheme have submitted receipts. Farmers are under pressure and input costs have never been higher. There were delays to the BISS, as the Minister acknowledged, due to this being the first year of the new CAP. It is fine for the Minister to say that but farmers are under pressure to buy lime before next Tuesday and leave it to sit it in a yard where it cannot be spread in the first place. Will the Minister check how many farmers have submitted receipts? That will allow him to see if there is pressure there, as I believe there is, and decide whether there can be a level of flexibility. A week would make a difference, particularly for farmers who are receiving a BISS payment.
I am considering that and monitoring it closely. I want as much follow through as possible in respect of farmers purchasing lime and spreading it. I am closely monitoring it daily and getting feedback from farmers. I have to balance the need to ensure farmers get paid and the need to utilise the budget this year for it. Many farmers spread lime earlier this year too. It has been much more challenging to do so in recent months. Those who spread it earlier in the year have uploaded their receipts. That is good to see. We want to make sure the biggest number possible of those who applied follow through and spread that lime by the end of March, however. I am monitoring it closely and will be doing the best I can to get as many in as possible. We set the scheme up to try to incentivise this behaviour and back farmers to do it. We want to get people back to doing it so that everybody will see the benefit of it again. I want as much of that as possible come to fruition. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.
