Revised remittance notices to issue to certain BDGP farmers

Revised remittance ‘payment breakdown’ notices will apparently be issued by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine to certain participants in the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP).

This is due to these farmers receiving remittance notices that “neither corresponded to their activity nor to what they had actually been paid”, according to the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA).

Des Morrison, ICMSA Livestock chairperson, confirmed that an unknown number of BDGP participants had received their balancing payment details by post at the end of June and, upon checking, realised that the ‘payment breakdowns’ did not correspond to their participation in the scheme.

After raising the issue through Farmers’ Charter, the ICMSA has been assured that, while the department is satisfied that the correct balance was paid, in several cases the accompanying sheet information sent to the farmers was incorrect and this will be rectified in due course.

Morrison said he was struck by the fact that: “While farmers always accept that the department can make errors, this courtesy and understanding is not always reciprocated where farmers had made genuine errors in their dealings with the department and other official bodies.”

He added: “I wonder why farmers can’t just be allowed to state that the figures they supplied to the department were wrong and need to be amended – without any penalty.”