Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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622. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applicants under BISS, CRISS and Eco-Scheme who had not received their full scheme payment within four, eight, 12 and 24 weeks of the commencement of payments in each of the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the value of payments outstanding at those dates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68611/26]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department cannot pay applicants who have eligibility queries outstanding and therefore there will always be some small proportion of applicants who do not become eligible for payment on the first day payments commence.

Historical figures for the number of applications who are not yet eligible at 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks are not available.

My Department provides direct phone and in-person supports to farmers and their advisors in such cases to clear payments as quickly as possible.

The following tables show the number of applications for the 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 scheme years for BISS, CRISS and ECO (BPS in the case of 2022) and the number unpaid as of September 2026. It also shows the number of eligible BISS applications in those years and the numbers paid for the four scheme years. 2026 scheme year payments will commence on October 16th 2026.

Scheme payment dates and percentages paid have met or in many cases exceeded the targets set down in the Charter of Rights for Farmers agreed between my Department and the Farming Organisations.

BISS & CRISS Application and Payment Breakdown since 2022 Scheme Year