DEAR EDITOR: I refer to Noel Bardon’s article of 15 June 2024 in the Irish Farmers Journal which reported payments of over €4m to advisors in 2023.

As I am named in the article as having received over €100,000 in funding from CAP, I feel compelled to clarify the payments that we received.

The €100,000 quoted was in respect of mandatory ACRES training courses that we provided to our own ACRES clients and those of two other agricultural consultants in the north east and west.

As we are not participating in the Knowledge Transfer (KT) programme, we received no payments in respect of this scheme.

The €100,000 we received includes a payment of €156 to each attendee at the ACRES courses we provided. In total, this amounted to approximately €70,000.

The balance of the money is the fees paid to us, for the provision of these courses. This amounts to a payment of €90 per course participant.

To provide ACRES training we must be approved both as FAS advisers and ACRES course trainers. To maintain this approval, we are required to attend regular in-service training, both online and in person at our own cost.

In addition, we have to pay for course venues, payment to course trainers, host farmer payments, insurance, course materials, tax, and all administration costs associated with the organisation of courses and participant payments.

While we are given guidelines on course content, we must produce our own course materials.

All courses must be presented to a high standard as per Department of Agriculture specifications.

Our courses were inspected by the Department of Agriculture and certified as compliant with these specifications.

While some people might suggest agricultural consultants and advisers are on a “gravy train” in relation to CAP funds, nothing could be further from the truth.

We endeavour to provide the best possible advisory support services to our clients in competition with a State-supported advisory service.

The rates we receive for provision of ACRES training, after costs, are significantly below the rates charged by commercial trainers for providing similar training in other sectors.