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Payments under the GLAS PLUS have started this week Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has confirmed.
A total payment of €3.6m will be made to 3,200 participants in the scheme for delivering exceptional environmental output. This bonus is being delivered four weeks ahead of schedule this year.
The minister said payments are being made at an accelerated rate in light of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions.
A large tranche of 2020 advance payments under the scheme have been made this week. These payments are worth €11m and mean that over €14m has been made to GLAS participants in the last two weeks.
Further allocation
Minister McConalogue said: “This brings GLAS payments to date to a total of over €152.6m. The rate of issue of these payments will be welcomed by farmers in every county in Ireland.
“Achieving this level of funding is important to ensure that we give certainty to scheme participants when transitioning from one Rural Development Plan (RDP) to another.”
GLAS participants will have the certainty of participating in the scheme again next year if they wish as a result of additional funding allocation secured in the budget.
Subject to clearance from the European Commission on the proposed RDP amendment, these GLAS participants will be contacted directly by the Department in early December with details on how to extend their participation for 2021.
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