Delays in GLAS payments are a major issue for many farmers.
Farmers in difficulty because of late payments may gt help from the IFA Payments Unit
It has dealt with nearly 800 cases since last September.
IFA Deputy President Richard Kennedy said the Payments Unit was established to assist and support farmers who were facing delays in getting paid, particularly under the Basic Payment Scheme, ANC and GLAS.
The Payments Unit also handles queries on other direct payment schemes.
The Payments Unit takes queries from farmers and liaises with the Department of Agriculture to sort out problems and cut down on delays.
95,000 farmers qualify under the ANC scheme.
The advance of the Basic Payment happens in mid-October.
The remainder is paid on December 1st.
There are almost 125,000 farmers eligible for the Basic Payment.
Of the 773 cases that the IFA Payments Unit has taken on since September 2017, 475 farmers (61%) have received their payment. 298 (39%) cases are still open and are being pursued by the Payments Unit.
111 of those relate to the GLAS Scheme, which represents 69% of the GLAS delays handled by the Payments Unit.
IFA Rural Development Chairman Joe Brady said the high proportion of outstanding cases relating to GLAS didn’t come as a surprise and represented an indictment of the Department’s system.
