GALWAY IFA has called on Agriculture Minister, Michael Creed, to show flexibility in allowing all applicants to get into the final tranche of the GLAS environmental scheme.
Over recent weeks, it has emerged that the 12,000 allocated ‘extra places’ in the scheme have been over-subscribed to the tune of approximately 4,500, as farmers seek to qualify for the €5,000 annual maximum payment.
Galway IFA Environmental Chairman, Bertie Roche, told the Farming Tribune that entry into GLAS for the farmers who hadn’t got in until now, would provide them with a very important source of annual revenue.
“It is a good scheme from a lot of different perspectives and it can mean the difference between a profit and loss situation for many small farmers across the West of Ireland.
“We are calling on Minister Creed to show flexibility and to let all farmers who applied into the scheme. The interest in GLAS from farmers shows how important it is to them,” said Bertie Roche.
IFA Rural Development Chairman, Joe Brady, said with the deadline for entry into GLAS coming this week [Thursday, Dec. 15], Minister Creed must ensure that all farmers who applied got in.
He said that with the commencement date for contracts falling on January 1, 2017, the issue was one of particular urgency for farmers applying.
“Nearly three years into the RDP, the annual spend of €250 million has been significantly under-shot with only the three-month payment for 2015 made so far, and full year payments now due for both GLAS 1 and GLAS 2.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
