The closing date for applications to the 2020 Basic Payments Scheme (BPS) and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot – Sucklers (BEEP-S) scheme was last Friday, May 15.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine confirmed to AgriLand today, Monday May 18, the final number of applications for both schemes.
129,006 applications were received for the BPS. This figure is almost identical to the number of applications received for the 2019 BPS, which was 128,992 (around 122,000 of whom received payments).
Meanwhile, 27,072 applications were received for BEEP-S. This compares to approximately 19,000 applications for the original BEEP scheme last year (a higher potential level of total payment is available in the BEEP-S scheme).
County-by-county breakdown
This table (below) shows a county-by-county breakdown of BPS applications.
Date source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
As can be seen, Co. Cork saw the highest level of applications, with 12,981. This was followed by Co. Galway with 12,169; and Co. Mayo, with 11,501.
The counties with the lowest uptake were Dublin, with 638; Co. Louth with 1,508; and Co. Carlow, with 1,622.
The next table (below) shows the county-by-county breakdown for BEEP-S scheme applications.
Date source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
From this table, it can be seen that Co. Galway saw the most applications for BEEP-S, with 3,002. This was followed by Co. Mayo, with 2,647 applications; and Co. Clare, with 2,195 applications.
The counties with the lowest rate of applications for BEEP-S were Dublin, with 63, followed by Co. Louth with 213 applications and Co. Waterford with 309.