Some €106m allocated for payments to farmers under the current Rural Development Programme (RDP) will not reach them by the time the programme ends in 2020, according to new estimates by the IFA.

This is based on the latest available information on farmers’ applications under various RDP schemes, which the organisation is confident will now not change by 2020 unless new measures open.

Despite the recent acceleration in TAMS payments to farmers, the IFA estimates that the farm investment scheme will remain the largest source of RDP underspend, with €123m unused. The Knowledge Transfer scheme is next with €66m on course to remain unspent, while the Sheep Welfare Scheme is estimated to run €20m under budget by the end of the RDP.

Over budget

Other schemes will cost more than originally planned, with payments under the increase in ANC funding from this year and payments under GLAS and legacy agri-environmental schemes planned to exceed their budget by more than €40m each. BDGP, too, is estimated to cost €27m more than expected.

Yet the balance remains more than €100m to the disadvantage of farmers, or 2.6% of the total €4.09bn allocated to the 2014-2020 RDP.

Should any payments due to farmers fall after the end of the current RDP, for example investments under TAMS completed after 2020, they would come out of the next RDP’s funding and leave an underspend in the current programme, the IFA has warned.

The Department of Agriculture returned more than €100m in unspent funds to the Exchequer in 2016.

Again last year, the Department spent €80m less than its budget allocation and carried over another €24m into this year.

Read more

How to catch up on RDP spending?

GLAS still main cause of Department underspend

€25m KT underspend projected