The difference in the level of pay that will be received between farmers and ‘trainers’ under the new Agri-Environment Training Scheme (AETS) has been described as “very revealing about the priorities” of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The scheme, which was announced yesterday, will see farmers given a once-off payment of €156 for participation in a one-day course around agri-environment and farm safety issues.
These courses will be run by department-certified ‘AETS trainers’. These trainers will receive €90 per farmer, subject to a maximum of 25 farmers.
Commenting on the announcement of the scheme, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) said today (Wednesday, February 9) that farmers would welcome the scheme as a “step in the right direction”.
However, Denis Drennan, the chairperson of the ICMSA’s Farm and Rural Affairs Committee, claimed that “irritation will grow as farmers delve into the final detail”.
“The scheme itself may be new but there is something very familiar indeed about the relative rates of payment to participating farmers and the trainers or consultants giving the one-day courses,” Drennan asserted.
“Farmers interested in attending will have to take a full day off their farm work and probably have to pay a replacement at a rate of €20/hour out of the €156 that they receive for attending and participating,” he argued.
“The contrast with the rates being offered the trainers is very revealing and could be read as indicating the department’s priorities in this and many other matters.
“The department-certified trainers will be paid €90 per farmer attending the one-day course, up to a maximum of 25 farmers, so a possible payment for their day of €2,250. I don’t think that anyone could regard that as underpayment and it compares very starkly with the farmer’s attendance pay out,” Drennan said.
The ICMSA farm and rural affairs chair claimed that this rate of payment is “the latest manifestation of the old idea that the farmer is last in the queue and has to take what’s left after all the people in suits have helped themselves”.
“We don’t accept that and will go on pointing out that all the consultants and trainers actually depend on us for their living,” Drennan added.
“Farmers are more than willing to play their part in environmental protection… Don’t make little of u, show us the respect we deserve and farmers will proactively respond.
“The relative levels of payment in this scheme are disproportionate and will need to be addressed,” he concluded.