Farmers raised 773 cases with the IFA payments unit since last September, of which 298 remain open. GLAS delays account for the highest proportion of unresolved issues, with 111 cases relating to the agri-environmental scheme still ongoing.

The most numerous queries were about BPS and ANC, which reflects the larger numbers of farmers covered by the two schemes. However, most of these were resolved by the start of February.

By contrast, farmers had smaller numbers of queries about other schemes, but they proved harder to resolve. For example, the IFA payments unit has dealt with fewer than 10 cases for each of the AEOS, Knowledge Transfer, National Reserve and Organic schemes since September, but none of these have been closed yet.

IFA rural development chairman Joe Brady said that some farmers could be left waiting for another two months for GLAS payments if things don't improve.

"Either the Minister gets to grips with it, or he considers an alternative method that delivers in line with the Charter of Farmers’ Rights," Brady commented.

GLAS payments made to 1,500 farmers

GLAS tops unresolved queries to IFA

Most farmers seeking assistance from the IFA payments unit in the past five months had BPS queries, but the slowest to resolve have been those relating to GLAS.