Minister Coveney Must Sort out Payment Delays – IFA

IFA Deputy President Tim O Leary has said it is totally unacceptable that payments to farmers under the Disadvantage Area Scheme are been held up because they have been subject to a Department on farm or satellite inspection.

He said the delays in payment are compounding the cash flow and income difficulties on livestock farms, who depend to a very significant degree on direct payments for their income.

Tim O Leary called on Minister Coveney to immediately intervene and sort out the hold up on all outstanding Disadvantage Area payments in the Department. He said it is very unfair that farmers who are selected for an inspection are discriminated against regarding their payments.

The IFA Deputy President said farmers who have not received their payments are being told their files have been sent for digitisation and it is unclear as to when they will be paid. He said it also seems that a very high proportion of case selected for inspection are been sent for digitisation, compounding the delay in payments.

Tim O Leary called for the maximum pay-out under the Single Farm Payment advance from next Thursday, October 16th. The IFA Deputy President said Minister Coveney cannot allow farmers be denied their payments on time because of inspections and digitisation.

The IFA Deputy President warned that any payment delays will cause severe income difficulties on farm families, particularly considering the income problems in the livestock and tillage sectors this year.