Tony Killeen, Fianna Fail TD and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, today confirmed that advance payments of 70 per cent in the Single Payment Scheme worth almost EUR31.5 million have commenced to County Clare farmers.5562 Clare farmers will start receiving their payments from next Monday October 19th 2009. Meanwhile, Minister of State Killeen confirmed that the 30 per cent balancing payments would begin issuing with effect from 1 December.
“Following on from the payment to date of EUR200M under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, this is further welcome news for County Clare farmers and for the local economy as a whole”, stated Minister of State Killeen.
The North Clare T.D. said that the earlier payment of and a higher level of payment in the advance payment follows the Irish Government’s involvement in extensive negotiations at EU level.
He continued: “The outcome of negotiations in Brussels is very satisfactory, with advance payments being made a full six weeks earlier than provided for under the rules of the Scheme and the level of advance payment set at an unprecedented 70 per cent. This advance payment represents a positive response by the EU Commission and will be of great benefit to recipients in the context of monetary difficulties that are particularly real for many Clare farmers in 2009".
The Minister also referred a further positive change in relation to modulation deductions in respect of 2009 payments. "In previous years, a linear modulation deduction was taken from every SPS payment made. Deductions pertaining to the first EUR5,000 of payment were then refunded later in the scheme year. From 2009 onwards, the modulation deduction will only apply to cases with a net payment amount of over EUR5,000. The change will mean that Irish farmers will no longer have to wait for up to six months for a modulation refund, which amounts to almost EUR35 million in 2009".
Commenting on the issuing of the 30 per cent balancing payments would from 1 December next, Minister of State Killeen stated: “While the Department of Agriculture is pleased with the progress it is making on the processing of the 2009 Single Payment Scheme, a number of applications are still awaiting further input from the farmers concerned. In order to ensure that payments under the Single Payment Scheme are maximised between now and the end of the year, I would urge all applicants who have received queries from the Department in connection with their SPS application to respond as a matter of urgency with the necessary clarifications. In this context payments will continue to issue as soon as outstanding issues are satisfactorily resolved.”
