The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has confirmed that accessibility issues with Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme applications have been addressed, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.
IFA National Rural Development Committee chair Michael Biggins raised the issue with department officials at the recent Farmers’ Charter of Rights meeting.
He added that any delay in accessibility was not acceptable as the deadline for applications for the BISS scheme is May 29, 2023.
“I’ve taken calls from [IFA] members who have travelled good distances to meet with their planners only to find out when they landed that they couldn’t access the BISS application.
“It was a complete waste of time for both the farmer and planners, and both are up to their eyes at this time of year,” Biggins said.
DAFM
President of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA), Noel Feeney told Agriland that they are working with the department on any issues raised by advisors in relation to the new IT system for BISS applications.
Feeney also appealed to farmers to have patience with advisors as they are currently prioritising applications for BISS, Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS), Eco-Schemes and the new Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP).
Since the department’s application portal opened for applications under BISS and other related area-based schemes on February 28, over 42,000 applications have been submitted.
“As with any online system there may be certain scheduled downtimes for release of new features, improvements and critical maintenance but these down times are kept to a minimum. So far the application has an overall availability of 97.74%.
“The department keeps in close contact with advisors and is not aware of any issues in relation technical errors trying to submit applications,” a DAFM spokesperson told Agriland.
They added that advisors and farmers who have any problems or queries in relation to BISS applications can contact the department through the following methods:
- Email: [email protected];
- Call the BISS helpdesk: 057 8674422;
- Drop into the department’s public counter in Portlaoise;
- Attend a BISS clinic.