Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a need for an immediate review of the current IT payment systems following the massive problems faced by farmers submitting applications for overdue payments under many rural development programme schemes. Enormous barriers are being experienced with the online system for GLAS, TAMS, the beef genomics programme and the knowledge transfer group scheme. The addition of a plethora of wholly bureaucratic schemes has added hugely to the costs of farmers and has led to a lengthy delay in the issuance of payments, for example, under the GLAS scheme. More complicated rules on farm schemes have led to an explosion in compliance costs and reduced the net financial benefit of many schemes to farmers. Under GLAS, it was agreed that up to 75% of payments would be commenced by the third week of October 2016 with the balance of payments in mid-December. At the beginning of May 2017, approximately 3,000 GLAS 1 and GLAS 2 applicants were still waiting on 85% of their 2016 payments, despite a farmer's charter of rights meeting where the Department made a commitment that all outstanding payments would be made by the end of April. Six weeks later, 94% of payments have been made, according to an update yesterday. The Department is still behind and I hope the charter will be adhered to in the future and farmers will be paid on time.

See this speech in context