Payments under the €50m Beef Finisher Scheme should be made by the Minister for Agriculture without delay, IFA livestock chair Brendan Golden has said.

“At our meeting of the livestock committee this week, we heard numerous calls for the immediate payout under the scheme.

“The closing date was in September and farmers who incurred losses earlier this year have cashflow pressures,” he said.

Applications

Over 28,000 valid applications were made under the scheme for almost 466,000 animals, which is based on the number of cattle sent for slaughter in the period from 1 February to 12 June.

Golden said any surplus monies in the scheme, when outstanding appeal cases are dealt with, must be directed towards cattle that were exported for direct slaughter.

He said these animals can be easily identified from their export certs. They incurred the same losses as those processed in this country.

ICMSA

Last Wednesday, the ICMSA called on the Department of Agriculture to immediately issue the Beef Finisher Payment, in line with the Government's commitment to roll out the payment in November.

ICMSA’s livestock committee chair Des Morrison said: “Given that the closing date for applications was early September, it was to be expected that farmers should be receiving this payment without any further delay.

“Set against the serious profitability issues in beef production and the annual bills traditionally paid at this time of year, the issue and receipt of this payment would give farmer cashflow a much-needed boost.”

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