Over 8,000 Basic Payment Scheme applications have been made to date, according to the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney.
The Minister confirmed his intention to extend the closing dates for receipt of applications in respect of various Direct Payment Schemes, in particular, the Basic Payment Schemes and the GLAS Scheme.
“I will extend the closing date for the BPS by two weeks to May 29 and GLAS by three weeks to May 22, once the necessary amendment has been made to the EU Regulations, on foot of the commitment made by Commissioner Hogan.”
The Commission action follows on requests from a number of Member States, including Ireland, for more time for farmers to complete their applications for these new schemes.
“I am pleased to be in a position to announce this extension which will assist farmers and their advisors to prepare and submit BPS applications this year and to comply with additional requirements arising from implementation of the Greening Scheme and the introduction of the GLAS Scheme.”
To date 8,253 applications have been submitted under the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme online system compared to 7962 applications in 2014.
In fixing the new deadline, the Minister said that he was mindful of the need to provide additional time for the submission of applications, while at the same time ensuring that sufficient time is given for the processing of applications to facilitate early payment to applicants.
GLAS
In relation to GLAS, Minister Coveney announced that he had decided to extend the closing date from April 30 to May 22, taking advantage of the extended closing date for BPS.
“To date over 10,149 applications have already been created on the new online GLAS system, which is a remarkable achievement given that the scheme has only been opened a few weeks,” the Minister said.
“The extended date will make possible for even more farmers to finalise their GLAS plans for this first tranche.”