Minister Has to Find Funding to Pay Promised Scheme Amounts to Drystock Farmers

IFA President Francie Gorman said that Minister Heydon must find extra funding to deliver the promised amounts to farmers under the National Beef Welfare scheme and the National Sheep Welfare scheme.

“We met the Minister on this issue this week and I made it very clear to him that even though the number of applicants is higher than expected, he needs to find the extra funding to deliver the promised amounts per animal.”

“There has to be flexibility in the system to make this happen. We estimate an extra allocation of approximately €6m would mean he could meet the commitments of €75 per suckler cow and €13 per ewe.”

“Cutting the scheme to €67 per suckler cow and €11.50 per ewe will annoy farmers as they have already carried out the measures under these schemes at their own cost,” he said.

“While suckler and sheep farmers have had a better year, it has been a long time coming and incomes in the beef and sheep sectors are still low,” he said.

“It is positive that the number of applicants to the scheme is up and the Minister deserves credit for opening the schemes earlier. However, he should follow through and pay every applicant the full amount promised by his predecessor in last year’s Budget,” he said.