Farming organisations have welcomed the agreement reached with the Department of Agriculture on a new Farmers’ Charter.
The charter states that farmers will be notified 48 hours ahead of scheme inspections taking place, where possible, and that an initial verdict will be provided to farmers on the completion of inspections.
Direct payment dates are to revert to their pre-2023 schedule and a monitoring committee has been established which will convene if payment targets are missed.
Calls have been made for the Department to show flexibility in clawing back any excess Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) payments from farmers experiencing financial hardship, with out-of-date Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) III reference costs also in the farm groups’ firing line.
IFA welcomes inspection notices
The IFA welcomed the move back to pre-2023 ANC payment dates. / Philip Doyle
IFA Connacht chair Brendan Golden welcomed the Department’s switch to normal Area of Natural Constraint (ANC) payment dates.
“Inspections in the main will be announced in the new charter, with inspectors required to provide a written preliminary report before leaving the farm, rather than in the subsequent days, as originally proposed by the Department,” Golden said.
“The Department has committed in the charter to fully engaging with farm organisations in the development of schemes and discussing any subsequent changes to terms and conditions in a timely manner.
“This is an important addition to the charter to ensure that schemes are designed in a practical and straightforward way and to ensure the goalposts are not changed after farmers have entered into the scheme.”
Golden called for farmers to be provided with the “maximum timeframes necessary” for ACRES overpayments to be recouped by the Department.
“Farmers must have clarity on where they stand as soon as possible because ACRES has operated in a vacuum of uncertainty for far too long.
“Attention now turns to the monitoring committee, which needs to be stood up as soon as possible so the Department can be held to account for the mess they are making with ACRES.”
ICSA on ACRES overpayments
The ICSA welcomed indications that there will be flexibility on recouping overpayments in ACRES. \ Philip Doyle
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) president Sean McNamara highlighted 2024’s payment schedule, changes to the Department’s inspection protocol and the charter monitoring committee’s role when targets are missed as being among the guarantees offered to farmers.
McNamara stated that Tuesday’s meeting on the charter had addressed concerns on delays to ACRES overpayments.
“The Minister acknowledged that there is an obligation on the Department ‘to make recoupments in the cases of any overpayment arising from interim payments at the first opportunity’,” he said.
“This means that because ACRES interim payments were classified as overpayments, their system will look to claw back interim monies paid out from any scheme payment that falls due to a farmer.
“However, the Minister added that he has asked his Department ‘to engage positively with any farmer that contacts them and show flexibility in cases of financial hardship’.
“This is crucial and I encourage any concerned farmer to contact the Department. Doing so will help protect their payments from other schemes and ensure they receive the full payments as they come due.”
ICMSA seeks TAMS costs review
The ICMSA is seeking an urgent review of TAMS reference costs. \ Donal O'Leary
Deputy president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) Eamon Carroll welcomed the conclusion of discussions on drawing up the charter and its provisions on notifying farmers before Department inspections take place.
“In this day and age, it is simply unacceptable for an individual farmer to be expected to down tools and deal with an inspection without adequate notice - particularly given the pressures on full-time farmers - as well as the difficulty in part-time farmers getting time off their jobs at short notice,” he commented.
“We need to deal with the realities of farming and that means adequate notice of inspection, which, in the next CAP negotiations, [means] being increased beyond 48 hours.”
Carroll pointed to TAMS reference costs as the scheme issue that must top the charter’s agenda.
“That’s the first priority, along with an assurance that all payments will be made on time in 2024 given the massive cashflow and other pressures on farmers at this time.”
Read more
New Farmers’ Charter agreed outlining Department's targets
Farming organisations have welcomed the agreement reached with the Department of Agriculture on a new Farmers’ Charter.
The charter states that farmers will be notified 48 hours ahead of scheme inspections taking place, where possible, and that an initial verdict will be provided to farmers on the completion of inspections.
Direct payment dates are to revert to their pre-2023 schedule and a monitoring committee has been established which will convene if payment targets are missed.
Calls have been made for the Department to show flexibility in clawing back any excess Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) payments from farmers experiencing financial hardship, with out-of-date Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) III reference costs also in the farm groups’ firing line.
IFA welcomes inspection notices
The IFA welcomed the move back to pre-2023 ANC payment dates. / Philip Doyle
IFA Connacht chair Brendan Golden welcomed the Department’s switch to normal Area of Natural Constraint (ANC) payment dates.
“Inspections in the main will be announced in the new charter, with inspectors required to provide a written preliminary report before leaving the farm, rather than in the subsequent days, as originally proposed by the Department,” Golden said.
“The Department has committed in the charter to fully engaging with farm organisations in the development of schemes and discussing any subsequent changes to terms and conditions in a timely manner.
“This is an important addition to the charter to ensure that schemes are designed in a practical and straightforward way and to ensure the goalposts are not changed after farmers have entered into the scheme.”
Golden called for farmers to be provided with the “maximum timeframes necessary” for ACRES overpayments to be recouped by the Department.
“Farmers must have clarity on where they stand as soon as possible because ACRES has operated in a vacuum of uncertainty for far too long.
“Attention now turns to the monitoring committee, which needs to be stood up as soon as possible so the Department can be held to account for the mess they are making with ACRES.”
ICSA on ACRES overpayments
The ICSA welcomed indications that there will be flexibility on recouping overpayments in ACRES. \ Philip Doyle
Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) president Sean McNamara highlighted 2024’s payment schedule, changes to the Department’s inspection protocol and the charter monitoring committee’s role when targets are missed as being among the guarantees offered to farmers.
McNamara stated that Tuesday’s meeting on the charter had addressed concerns on delays to ACRES overpayments.
“The Minister acknowledged that there is an obligation on the Department ‘to make recoupments in the cases of any overpayment arising from interim payments at the first opportunity’,” he said.
“This means that because ACRES interim payments were classified as overpayments, their system will look to claw back interim monies paid out from any scheme payment that falls due to a farmer.
“However, the Minister added that he has asked his Department ‘to engage positively with any farmer that contacts them and show flexibility in cases of financial hardship’.
“This is crucial and I encourage any concerned farmer to contact the Department. Doing so will help protect their payments from other schemes and ensure they receive the full payments as they come due.”
ICMSA seeks TAMS costs review
The ICMSA is seeking an urgent review of TAMS reference costs. \ Donal O'Leary
Deputy president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) Eamon Carroll welcomed the conclusion of discussions on drawing up the charter and its provisions on notifying farmers before Department inspections take place.
“In this day and age, it is simply unacceptable for an individual farmer to be expected to down tools and deal with an inspection without adequate notice - particularly given the pressures on full-time farmers - as well as the difficulty in part-time farmers getting time off their jobs at short notice,” he commented.
“We need to deal with the realities of farming and that means adequate notice of inspection, which, in the next CAP negotiations, [means] being increased beyond 48 hours.”
Carroll pointed to TAMS reference costs as the scheme issue that must top the charter’s agenda.
“That’s the first priority, along with an assurance that all payments will be made on time in 2024 given the massive cashflow and other pressures on farmers at this time.”
Read more
New Farmers’ Charter agreed outlining Department's targets
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