A total of 715 farmers have withdrawn their applications from the Beef Emergency Aid Measure (BEAM) scheme to date, according to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed.
The minister gave figures on the scheme in response to a parliamentary question on the matter from independent TD for Roscommon-Galway Michael Fitzmaurice.
“34,517 approval letters issued to eligible BEAM applicants on October 11, 2019, and since that date, 533 applicants have asked to be withdrawn from the scheme,” Minister Creed said.
A further 182 applicants had already requested to leave the scheme prior to the approval letters issuing giving a total of 715 applicants who have withdrawn their BEAM applications to date.
The minister explained that the objective of the scheme is to provide temporary exceptional adjustment aid to farmers in the beef sector in Ireland subject to the conditions set out under EU Commission regulations.
“Applications for BEAM were accepted from August 19 to September 20, 2019,” Minister Creed concluded.
Under the scheme, aid is paid on adult cattle slaughtered between September 24, 2018, and May 12, 2019, at a rate of €100/animal subject to a maximum of 100 finished animals per herd.
The scheme was open to more than 70,000 beef and suckler farmers.