Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Creed, to the House. He will have an opportunity to get water and draw his breath. I thank him for attending personally because this is an important issue. I spent last Saturday in Balmoral, Northern Ireland, at the agricultural show. It was amazing how many farmers from the South were there. One of the major topics of conversation besides Brexit was their GLAS 1 and 2 payments. It was interesting. The Irish Farmers Journal had a large stand at the show. Many people, particularly farmers from the Republic, gravitated to this issue. This week, there was a headline in The Irish Timesreferring to how more than 2,000 farmers had been left in limbo over their GLAS 1 and 2 payments from the Department. This is becoming a bit of a joke.

On 21 February, I raised the fact that a number of farmers had still not been paid GLAS 1 and 2 payments under the terms and conditions of the 2015-20 farmers' charter of rights. Nearly three months on and there has been little progress. More than 2,000 farmers are making a strong case for payments to which they believe they are entitled. As the Minister will be aware, many of them have absorbed the costs involved in joining GLAS 1 and 2. For example, they have paid upfront for GLAS 1 nutrition and management plans, commonage plans and soil sampling plans. Other costs include bird coverage and tree planting. The Minister knows the schemes involved. Farmers are spending on the strength of the grant payments that they are expecting from the Department. They have upheld their side of the conditions applying to the scheme and have incurred significant costs.

I took the time yesterday to examine GLAS payments and who co-funds them. They are co-funded by the Exchequer and the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD. There are obligations in that regard. I also took the time to read the farmers' charter of rights, which the Department and the Minister's predecessors signed up to.

Farmers want to know when the Minister will be in a position to process all outstanding payments. Will he confirm whether more than 2,000 farmers are still waiting to receive GLAS payments? This matter is critical and there can be no further delays. It needs to be addressed urgently.