Only 18% of afforestation licences have been granted within the timeline set down in the Farmers’ Charter of Rights, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
IFA deputy president Brian Rushe was speaking after a recent Charter of Rights meeting with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in which he noted that approval of forestry licences is “in complete contrast to other schemes which have high rates of compliance with agreed timeframes” under the charter.
Apart from the afforestation licences, only 7% of tree-felling licence applications were granted in the timeframe set down in the charter, Rushe said.
“The ongoing fiasco relating to forestry licensing has eroded all confidence of farmers in the sector.
“The massive delays in issuing licences are unacceptable. Unless it’s addressed, we are not going to see any meaningful level of planting take place in future years,” Rushe commented.
However, the IFA deputy president also welcomed the timely manner in which scheme payments were made.
These include the 70% advance payment on the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), which was paid out to 115,000 farmers last week.
Rushe went on to say that the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) Scheme advance payments last month “was vital to farmers, given spiraling input costs”.
Rushe said that the IFA received assurances from the department that payments under the Fodder Support Scheme are on schedule to commence in November, and that the department has sought additional documentation from some farmers.
“I would urge any farmer who has received this request for evidence to submit the required documentation to the department as soon as possible in order to avoid any delay in payments being issued next month,” he added.
IFA rural development chairperson Michael Biggins said that the department has committed to review the reference costings under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS), which will be implemented as part of the opening of the new TAMS next year.
Biggins said: “Farmers have been forced to work with out-of-date reference costs, which are not reflective of the soaring cost of works and associated materials.
“It’s essential that the new costings keep pace with these changes to allow farmers receive a grant relative to the cost of investment incurred.”
The final meeting under the current Farmers’ Charter of Rights is due to take place in early December.
Rushe called for negotiations to establish a new charter, taking into account the schemes under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2023 to 2027, to commence as soon as possible.