There have been some queries from farmers this week regarding what scheme payments have been sanctioned and what is yet to come.

Payments under the Eco Scheme have come into focus, with the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) paid earlier this week.

These two payments and the Eco Scheme replaced the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payment programme in the last CAP.

Balancing payments under the Eco Scheme are set to be announced next week and comprise 30% of the total payment.

The Eco Scheme is an important scheme for farmers, with €206m paid to 110,450 farmers under the 70% advance payment.

Payment rate

The Department has previously reported that by close of applications on 15 May 2024, it had received 121,097 applications from farmers for the Eco Scheme.

This means that there will be some farmers receiving 100% of their payment next week, while a number of payments are likely to remain uncleared for payment at this stage.

The payment rate in 2024 will be €66.50 per eligible hectare. There is no upper limit on the area of lands eligible for payment.

The payment of the Eco Scheme is also totally independent of entitlements with the payment based on an eligible hectare and not an entitlement unit.