The Department of Agriculture has written to farmers notifying them of the revised new scheme payment dates for key schemes in 2023.

The new dates were proposed by the Department at last week's Farmers Charter of Rights meeting, with farm organisations hitting out at the change in dates.

The two key changes are for the payment dates for the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) and Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS).

  • ANC advance payment to begin from 17 October 2023.
  • BISS advance payments to begin from 24 October 2023.
  • Eco-scheme advance payments to being from 31 October 2023.
  • Balancing payments to issue from December.

    • This means that the ANC payment, which has previously issued the week of the National Ploughing Championships, will now issue a month later than usual.

    The BISS payment, which replaced the Basic Payment Scheme, will issue a week later than it has in previous years.

    Disrespect

    The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has said that there was no agreement at the last charter meeting around the new dates.

    Deputy president of the ICMSA Denis Drennan described the move as very disrespectful to farmers.

    He said it is becoming increasingly obvious that the Department has decided to “do its own thing” on the question of timelines and payment dates.

    Drennan said that despite the fact that there was no agreement on payment dates for CAP schemes at the last meeting of the Farmers Charter, the Department has written to all farmers setting out often revised payment dates without any consultation, much less agreement, from farmers.

    “The farmers charter has played a hugely significant role over the last 25 years in terms of setting out farmers rights in relation to schemes including payment dates, inspection rates and notice of inspections among other issues.

    Good faith

    “The charter was always negotiated in good faith between the Department and farm organisations. “Difficult issues were always debated and agreed in the final document. Against that record of consultation and respect, why has the Department now decided to unilaterally set payment dates for 2023 that are actually worse than previous years?

    “The new payment dates as advised by the letters just being received now by farmers are almost a month later in the case of ANC and up to a fortnight later for the pillar one payments. The Department must know that these payments are nearly always used to pay down the bills that are timed to coincide with their lodgement.

    “They must know that many farmers are now going to have to reschedule their direct debits or payments by these new timelines to ensure that the funds are there. It’s very disrespectful and very revealing about the attitude now adopted at disappointingly high levels,” he said.