Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Advance payments to farmers under the ANC scheme commenced on 17 October and continued in two payments up to 9 November. Currently, there is an eligible population of 103,000 farmers, of whom 92,000, or 89%, have received the advance payment. Under the basic income support for sustainability scheme, the number of eligible farmers is 117,000, of whom 109,000, or 92.5%, have received an advance payment. In regard to the eco-scheme, the current number of eligible recipients is 119,000, of whom 109,000, or 91%, have received their advance payment, meaning 10,000 farmers have yet to receive a payment. The number of cleared cases will continue to rise over the next few weeks.

Looking back, the first year of a new CAP is always a very challenging time. That is why I wrote to farmers back in March outlining that the times would be slightly different this year to ensure we would pay as high a percentage as possible in the first payment run. What happened in the past was that if we went earlier than we were ready to pay a large number of recipients, all of those who did not get paid automatically got on the telephone or accessed the communication channels asking what was the issue. The system can come down under its own weight in those circumstances. We set dates this year that we worked hard to stick by. We did sticky by and deliver on them and, as the Deputy can see, the payment percentages are high. Obviously, farmers among the 8%, 9% or 10% who have yet to be paid are in a difficult position. It happens every year that approximately that percentage is outstanding, or sometimes a bit less when we get further on in the CAP year and get into repeats. Overall, it has been a very high delivery and we certainly have avoided the weight of problems we had in previous first years of a new CAP. We are working to resolve the remaining outstanding payments.