Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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35. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the schemes administered by his Department over the past two years that have been affected by payment delays; the length of these delays; the number of persons affected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41417/17]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I have been writing parliamentary questions and contacting the Department on behalf of farmers in Tipperary. There are many schemes in the Department but what is going on there? We are sick and tired of excuses. I am not here to bash the staff in the Department but I am here to stand up for the farmers in Tipperary who are rightly entitled to get their payments but are not getting them.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers a wide range of schemes that provide vital support to underpin the continued sustainability and growth of the agrifood sector. I am very aware of the importance of these supports for farmers and, accordingly, the issuing of payments under these schemes is a matter of priority for my Department. The main schemes are delivered under the framework of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, and each year approximately €1.5 billion issues under these schemes. My Department has a strong record in the efficient delivery of these payments, as evidenced by the fact that we perform very favourably compared to other EU member states in terms of both the dates on which payments are delivered and our ability to maximise the drawdown of available EU funding.

With regard to individual schemes, the main direct payment scheme is the basic payment scheme, BPS. Advance payments are due to commence again this year on 16 October, which is the first date permissible under the EU regulations. In 2016, advance payments also commenced on 16 October, with €714 million issuing to 109,000 farmers on that date. To date under the 2016 BPS, over €1.18 billion has been issued to over 124,000 farmers. The areas of natural constraint scheme commenced payment on schedule again this year in the week beginning 18 September, and to date over €168 million has issued to over 78,000 farmers. This represents a significant increase over the payment figures at this stage last year.

The current position regarding green low-carbon, agri-environment scheme, GLAS, payments for 2015 is there are a small number of GLAS 1 farmers representing 0.5% of all GLAS 1 participants where payment is outstanding. With regard to 2016 advance payments to GLAS 1 and 2 participants, payments have issued in over 98% of cases. To date this year, we have paid over €147 million to GLAS participants.

The online payment claim system for the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS II, opened in July 2016. Payments for approved investments continue to issue on an ongoing basis with 2,300 payment claims received and 1,680 cases paid. Payments totalling over €23.65 million have issued to date and continue to issue at an average rate of over €1 million per week.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

I urge all farmers who have completed TAMS-approved works to submit their payment claims to the online system as soon as possible so that payments can issue.

With the organic farming scheme, OFS, our target in the Rural Development Programme was to attract some 16,000 ha of new land into production and to support 46,000 ha of converted land. We have more than achieved these targets and because of the structures we are putting in place, we hope to secure this land under organic contract for at least the next five years. For the first time, this allows us to plan ahead with confidence in terms of an organic food market. OFS payments in 2015 and 2016 amounted to €8 million each year. Projected expenditure for 2017 is €13 million and the average payment is approximately €6,500. We are well advanced towards preparations for the 2016 balancing payments, which I expect will commence in October.

In addition to these existing schemes, the new sheep welfare scheme and the knowledge transfer programme are due to issue their first payments since they were introduced last year. In both cases, payments will commence issuing in the coming weeks. With all these EU-funded schemes, it is important to note that EU regulations stipulate payments can only issue when the required validation checks have been carried out and passed. I am very anxious to ensure my Department continues to issue these important payments to farmers in the most efficient and timely manner possible, and this remains a key priority for me.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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We know all that money is paid and it is all very welcome but it is of little use or benefit to farmers who are struggling, who cannot get their payments or who are waiting. These people are contacting my office, as well as many other Deputies, and we are going back and forth to the Minister. The Department is blaming computer glitches and wrong information being inputted. That is unacceptable as these farmers must pay contractors and suppliers. There are many contractors and suppliers operating as a bank and that is little good to them. It is unacceptable in this day and age that this can be blamed on computer glitches.

The guidelines are too strict or rigid. I am not blaming the staff or workers in the Department as they are not deliberately holding up matters. In many cases, delays in payments result from an excessively rigid application process, which is unacceptable. Farmers are at the coal face, as are many suppliers. These are proud, honest farmers who have never owed a penny to anybody. When payments are delayed, they do not get any interest but if it were the other way around, there would be penalties and interest coming from the Revenue Commissioners, banks and everybody else.

They are left in limbo and they will have to deal with this issue.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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It has been the objective of anybody who has been in my position that these payments operate as efficiently as possible. By international comparison we do quite well in terms of how efficiently we pay people. We had an issue with GLAS. We have substantially worked that through, and 98% of people have now been paid. There is a cohort of 2% which has outstanding issues that are delaying payment. All the IT issues have been addressed, and we are awaiting information from farmers in those cases.

There is one issue I would like to flag, which is farmers who have not submitted their nutrient management plans. If the nutrient management plan is not submitted the farmers cannot get the balancing payment that is due. There are over 6,500 farmers who have not yet, under GLAS, submitted nutrient management plans. That is delaying the balancing payment and it will also delay the next round of GLAS payments for them. I would ask the Deputy to use his good offices to bring that particular issue to the attention of Teagasc, private advisers and indeed farmers. That might well be the issue that is delaying payments, because not alone is it holding up the balancing payment but it is also holding up the next round of payments.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The Minister is still a farmer. It is very frustrating that the blame is always put back on the farmer. The Minister is at it again today. If the Department gets it wrong it is a computer error, or an IT error.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy should move away from his script.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I am happy to move away from the script any day, and tell the Minister that, as a farmer, and without being flippant or smart, he should make sure that the farmers are paid and not blame computers. I can move away from the script any day. The Minister is reading out figures and quoting international best practice and telling us how highly we rank. That is little good to the farmers of north Cork who the Minister represents, to those in Tipperary who I represent, or to Deputy McConalogue's constituents in Donegal. The Minister knows that better than I do. Around 1,000 farmers came up here last year and protested. They wanted to be at home tending to their crops and their animals and not up here protesting. They are coming again tomorrow, not for fun, and at their own expense. The Minister should not be so glib. He read out his script well. He should face up to the fact that farmers are not being paid but are being blamed. The Minister in his lecture asked Members to use their offices to tell the advisers and the farmers about this. It is too bureaucratic, and any little mistake is punished. Where is the yellow card promised in the programme for Government? The farmers are getting an immediate red card. The Department is holding on to the money and penalising the farmers, and the Minister has a smile on his face about scripts. Look after the farmers. They do not want scripts or fancy announcements. They want their pay so they can pay their suppliers.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledged that there were difficulties in the Department in respect of GLAS, but there are other issues that hold up payment, and I was making that point in the context of GLAS nutrient management plans.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The Minister is blaming the farmer again.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I am not blaming the farmer. It is part of the terms and conditions of the scheme that farmers have to submit a nutrient management plan.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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It is too bureaucratic.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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If the Deputy did not know that he knows it now.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Of course I know that.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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There are 6,500 farmers whose payments the Department is ready and willing to issue if nutrient management plans were submitted.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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That is not true.

Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is true.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Rubbish.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I beg the Deputy's pardon. It is the only outstanding reason for balancing payments. Not only will the balancing payment be held up but it will also hold up the next round of GLAS payments. We need to acknowledge, as I do, where there are Department failings, but there are other issues which hold up payments as well. My ambition is to pay everybody as quickly as we possibly can.