Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under the EU regulations governing the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, and the agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the land parcel identification system, must be completed before any payment can issue. 

My Department, as the accredited paying agency, must ensure that, before payment issues, everything in an application that can be checked is checked as required under the regulations. Therefore, payments can only issue when all the required validation checks have been successfully passed. As issues with outstanding GLAS cases are resolved, they are being paid in weekly instalments.

With regard to 2016 payments under AEOS, the previous agri-environment scheme, just over 8,600 AEOS participants were due a payment. AEOS II participants completed their five-year contracts on 31 December 2016. Under the EU regulations governing this scheme and all other area-based payment schemes, a full check, including cross-checks with the land parcel identification system must take place before the final payment can issue. As all AEOS II participants will be receiving their final payments under the scheme, re-checks on payments made for all scheme years must be completed before final payment can be processed. This is the same procedure as applied to AEOS I participants finishing in that scheme.

To date, AEOS 2016 payments amounting to over €22 million have issued. The remaining cases are currently being checked and payments will continue to issue on an ongoing weekly basis as these cases are cleared. A total of 83 farmers in County Meath were due a 2016 payment in AEOS, of which 68 have been paid and 15 are awaiting payment.

2016 payments represent the first full year of payment under GLAS. At the end of December 2016, there were approximately 37,500 active participants in the GLAS scheme, of which 27,400 or over 71% received payments valued at over €97 million, representing 85% of their 2016 payment.

As issues with outstanding GLAS cases are resolved they are being paid in weekly payment runs. Further payments are issuing on a weekly basis with payments valued at over €110 million now issued and over 84% of participants now paid. Further payments are issuing on a weekly basis.

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