As the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application deadline approaches on 15 May, the ICMSA is calling on the Department of Agriculture to exercise a degree of flexibility.

The organisation says that due to COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions, many farmers have not had the opportunity to meet with their advisors.

The ICMSA is calling for further leniency to rectify any such non-compliance

ICMSA deputy president Lorcan McCabe said the Department should take a common-sense approach when processing applications.

“Farmers and consultants have previously used the deadline of mid-June to address errors with no penalty applied where the non-compliance is fully rectified by that date and the ICMSA is calling for further leniency to rectify any such non-compliance after this date in 2020”, McCabe said.

He urged farmers to get in contact with their advisors as quickly as possible to avoid a last minute rush which could cause errors.

BPS

However, at this stage, as very few new schemes are in place, many farmers' BPS applications are relatively simple and are just a repeat application of previous years.

The submission of BPS applications is on target, despite disruption to meetings with advisors and consultants.

Payments

The Department of Agriculture reported that there were 39,534 applications submitted online as of Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for the Department said they are happy with this level of activity and encouraged farmers to continue to proceed with applications and not delay unnecessarily.

The advantage of sticking to the 15 May deadline is that the Department will be in a position to process payments at the earliest opportunity next autumn.

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