At present 123,774 farmers (99%) have been paid over €1.12 billion under the Basic Payment Scheme, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed.

The Department has said that some 1,483 farmers received their Basic Payment in the last three weeks and now only 1% of farmers are yet to receive their payments.

Meanwhile, some 1,550 applicants to the National Reserve/Young Farmer Scheme cannot be processed yet due to a lack of documentation, according to the Department.

Figures from the Department show that of the 9,300 applications to the scheme, to date some 7,200 applications have been fully processed.

It has issued letters to over 850 young farmers applicants in the scheme requesting further documentation or information in order to finalise processing of their applications.

In addition to this, the Department also requested additional documentation from 700 farmers in order to finalise their 2015 Transfer of Entitlement applications.

This outstanding documentation may also be delaying National Reserve and Young Farmer Scheme applications, it said.

The Department is now urging the farmers involved to engage with the Department and respond as soon as possible in order to have their applications finalised.

Over the past number of months, there has been increasing disquiet in the farming community over problems contacting the Department of Agriculture.

The issue was raised at a recent Farmers Charter meeting, where the ongoing problems farmers are encountering making telephone contact with the Department, in order to resolve problems or deal with outstanding queries, was heard.

IFA Deputy President Tim O’Leary said farmers are very frustrated with the inadequate telephone service from the Department of Agriculture and it was outlined at the meeting that this will be fully reviewed and overhauled for 2016.