Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has confirmed that not all farmers in the 2023 eco-scheme will receive a payment.
The minister said that this is due to issues with applications made by farmers or their Farm Advisory System (FAS) advisor.
However, he did not specify how many farmers would be impacted as the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is still working through outstanding applications.
The eco-scheme was introduced for the first time as part of Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
This voluntary scheme, open to all active farmers, rewards actions that are beneficial to the climate, environment, water quality and biodiversity.
Payments are made on an annual basis for all eligible hectares covered by the commitments undertaken.
The latest data from the DAFM shows that €1.1 million was paid to farmers under the eco-scheme last week.
The department said that 117,087 farmers have now been paid almost €298 million under the scheme.
Eco-scheme
In a parliamentary question, Independent Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked how many applicants had encountered departmental IT issues in relation to the space for nature calculations used for the eco-scheme.
The Kerry TD also queried the number of farmers who are still without an eco-scheme payment and when the department will rectify outstanding issues for these applicants.
In response, Minister McConalogue said the department published indicative space for nature estimates using satellite imagery for all farmers in September 2022.
If a farmer decided to apply for the scheme under Agricultural Practice 1 (Space for Nature), they had to be 7% or greater for the standard measure or 10% or greater for the enhanced measure.
In the case where a farmer was under those percentages, the minister said that they could “mark in additional features that were not already marked as such in indicative estimates or features such as a new hedge or grove of trees which had only recently been planted”.
“Where such edits or additional features are marked in at application stage, these added features must be validated and digitised by my department,” he said.
He added that “all eco-scheme digitising tasks for 2023 applications are up to date”.
Minister McConalogue said that there are around 7,000 eco-scheme applications still being processed by DAFM.
“Not all of these will result in an eco-scheme payment because in some cases, the farmer or FAS Advisor submitted an application under both a temporary reference number (TRN) and the herdnumber.
“Approximately 850 of this number were also farmers who chose Agricultural Practice 2 (extensive livestock) but chose to use the 2023 year as the year for stocking.
“That meant my department had to wait until February 2024 to verify the stocking rate in 2023.
“That process is now complete and these cases are being presented for payment,” he said.
Minister McConalogue noted that the 2024 application process for eco-schemes opened on February 20, 2024.
“Farmers and FAS Advisors that are applying under Agricultural Practice 1 should ensure that all features applied on exist on the holding and that where additional features are marked in, this is done correctly i.e. that existing hedgerows are not re-mapped,” he said.