Several thousand farmers could face a prolonged exclusion from vital supports as they await the chance to join an agri-environmental scheme.
AEOS contracts from 2,138 farmers finished in 2018 and they have been without a similar scheme since. New entrants to farming since 2016 are also in environmental scheme limbo.
Some 48,500 farmers are currently in GLAS, which was last opened for applications in 2016. The first batch of five-year contracts is due to end this year.
However, the Government has stated that it intends to extend the scheme for at least another year while the next CAP is finalised.
There had been hopes that those farmers who have not had an opportunity to apply to the scheme could do so in 2021.
However, Minister for Agriculture Dara Calleary poured cold water on the idea last week. “There are no plans to reopen the current GLAS, as it is fully subscribed and all funding is committed,” Minister Calleary stated in response to a query from Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith.
Based on an average GLAS payment of €4,500, it would cost almost €10m extra to admit the AEOS farmers. A further €10m could be required for new entrants.
Minister Calleary instead insisted that the priority for his Department was piloting a new “flagship environmental scheme”, dubbed in the programme for government as a REPS-type scheme. The minister explained that the ambition would be to allocate €1.5bn to the scheme, which would be fully rolled out in the next CAP.
In the meantime, “some elements” would be piloted during the transitional phase which could run until the end of 2021 or 2022. “We are pressing hard for the earliest possible adoption of the EU regulations to facilitate the operation of schemes during the transitional period as the first priority,” he said.