Data that is required to be submitted to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Knowledge Transfer (KT) Programme will not be held up as a result of Teagasc’s client fee issues.

An agreement has reportedly been reached between Teagasc and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) that the data will not be impeded pending resolution of these fee issues.

The IFA’s Rural Development Chairman, Joe Brady, added that the IFA is insisting that the department issues the KT payment of €750 to farmers by the end of October. No excuses must arise in relation to that, he said.

The department has allegedly confirmed to the IFA that the payments will be made within three months of July 31, in line with the Farmers’ Charter of Rights commitment.

Meanwhile, the IFA’s Deputy President, Richard Kennedy, was also in attendance at the meeting with Teagasc.

He pointed out that farmers are already asked to pay for veterinary charges and “adding in an additional fee for Teagasc diminishes the value of the €750 payment to the farmer under the scheme”.

In addition, Kennedy has already told the department that the IFA wants veterinary fees abolished from the KT Programme.

The IFA recently announced that it was seeking a meeting with Teagasc, with regard to fees being requested from farmers who were participating in KT groups run by Teagasc.

Brady said: “Teagasc gets a €500 payment per client in KT groups and charging non-clients a fee is in conflict with this payment.”

In response to these fee issues, Teagasc clarified that it only facilitates discussion groups for Teagasc clients who have a contract with it.

The €145 fee being mentioned is for a club contract, the agency pointed out. According to the Teagasc Advisory Charges Summary, the ‘KT Group Membership Package’ is listed as a package addition.