The average payment issued to farmers participating in the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) was discussed in a recent parliamentary question in the Dáil.

Fianna Fáil spokesperson for agriculture deputy Charlie McConalogue asked Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed what the average payment for GLAS is nationally, also requesting the uptake by county based on current participation levels.

In his response, Minister Creed outlined that the average payment under the GLAS scheme as of May 24, 2018, was €4,138.

This comprised an average 85% payment of €3,517, and a balance payment worth €621.

The minister added: “My department has overseen the processing of 48,777 GLAS 2018 advance payments since payments commenced in November 2018.

“This represents over 99% of all eligible scheme participants. Balancing payments commenced two weeks early this year at the beginning of May.”

Regarding active GLAS participants by county, a breakdown was also provided.

Supply chain transparency

On a separate matter, Minister Creed welcomed a recently proposed European Commission draft regulation aiming for greater transparency in how prices are reported throughout the food supply chain.

“I welcome initiatives to improve market transparency on EU agricultural markets.

“The establishment of Market Observatories for the various commodities have been widely recognised as having a beneficial effect and have resulted in a significantly improved market overview in terms of increased transparency, dissemination of market data, and analysis.

The draft commission implementing regulation, published on May 22, aims to further increase market transparency by collecting more detailed price data at various points along the food supply chain. It is currently under consideration by my department.

When asked by deputy McConalogue as to the timeline for the proposal to be adopted, the minister said:

“The commission has launched a public consultation running to June 19, and I would encourage all stakeholders to submit their views to the EU Commission directly via the consultation process.”