Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy has called on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to outline a plan “immediately” for resolving “the rapidly evolving BEAM scheme debacle”.
The Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) provided farmers with temporary financial aid in response to a prolonged period of depressed beef prices. To avail of the scheme, farmers were required to commit a 5% reduction of bovine livestock manure nitrogen.
While flexibility in the reference period was secured to allow farmers more time to meet the 5% reduction, deputy Carthy said that this would only “have the effect of kicking the problem down the road unless firm action was promptly taken to address the confusion that has become a hallmark of the scheme”.
‘Many farmers simply will not have the money to pay back’
“Sinn Féin [has] been highlighting issues with the BEAM scheme for some time. Now, farmers are facing up to €40 million in clawbacks from the department,” the deputy said.
“The minister has bought himself some time but must now outline how he intends to address the deficiencies in the scheme.
In the face of the ongoing pandemic and the fallout from Brexit, farmers do not need a department asleep at the wheel.
“The minister should immediately outline how he intends to address these outstanding issues so that farmers can have some level of certainty and stability.”
The deputy also raised concerns over agriculture advisors from agencies differing to the department “on methods to calculate nitrate figures under the scheme”, along with supposed “delays of up to six weeks for farmers to receive figures”.
“Many farmers simply will not have the money to pay back what the department will be seeking, and it is therefore incumbent on the minister to outline his plan immediately,” the deputy added.