Little, if any, progress has been made in GLAS payments in the last week. According to the latest Department of Agriculture information, 10,100 farmers still await payment.

Confusingly, this is a regression on the 9,200-figure quoted last week in relation to the number of farmers awaiting payment. It suggests that only a handful of farmers have received payment since the turn of the year.

About 1,000 farmers will receive payment in the next few days, but there is little prospect of clearing the backlog soon.

The IFA wants all farmers to now receive their 85% advance GLAS payment, with any potential penalty applied to the balance payment.

In all, about €97m has been paid out to 27,300 farmers. A further €35m of GLAS payments are now due, as well as GLAS+ payments worth €3.6m, and €16m in AEOS payments. The remaining 15% payment will be paid from the end of February onwards when on-farm inspections have been completed by the Department of Agriculture on selected farms – provided nutrient management plans (NMPs) have been submitted.

IFA rural development chair Joe Brady said that any issue with individual payments could be offset at that time if the minister decided to take a different and more pragmatic approach to payment.

In addition, the online facility for submission of nutrient management plans is still inactive. GLAS I farmers are now almost one month late for submitting their NMPs, while GLAS II farmers must do so by 31 March.

Fianna Fáil

On top of all this, Fianna Fáil is saying that the 2017 GLAS allocation will not meet payment demand. The €214m for GLAS will, according to Fianna Fáil TD Charlie McConalogue, pay only 46,222 at the average of €4,600. “This would leave almost 5,000 farmers unpaid this year,” he said. “Based on the latest figures, the total underspend on GLAS in the RDP window to 2020 will now be €411m.”

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