Payments of €184m under the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme has started to issue to the 87,149 farmers in the scheme.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said that in line with last year’s arrangement, the payments currently issuing are an 85% advance payment on the scheme, with the 15% of balancing payments due to commence in early December.

Minister McConalogue acknowledged that the support from the scheme is crucial to some farm families.

“I know the importance of getting payments out to applicants as quickly as possible,” he said.

“The issuing of these payments in mid-September highlights our commitment to make payments to farmers at the earliest possible time.”

Processing

The Minister also confirmed that his Department is on track to facilitate payment of the advance of 70% under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), Complementary Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) from 16 October 2024 and payments under the eco scheme from 21 October 2024.

Not all applications are currently cleared for payment under the ANC scheme, but regular pay runs will continue in the coming weeks to ensure cleared cases are processed for payment quickly.

The Department is advising farmers affected to submit any outstanding evidence in support of their application to the Department’s Portlaoise office to facilitate the early release of payments.