“NOT gone . . . and not forgotten anymore either” – that’s the message this week for a cohort of ‘once young’ farmers who missed out on ‘Installation Aid’ grants due to the expenditure slashes in 2008 after the collapse of the Celtic Tiger.

There are an estimated 4,000 farmers across the country who missed out on the grant – several hundred of them in the West of Ireland – who were excluded from the aid package.

Now, following a countrywide survey carried out by the Dept. of Agriculture last May, an allocation of €5 million has been made available by the Government to make payments to those farmers.

While the allocation has been welcomed by farm representatives, fears have also been expressed that more money needs to be made available if the ‘forgotten farmers’ are now to receive what they should have got in the first place.

IFA Rural Development Chair, John Curran, said the ‘Forgotten Farmer Scheme’ was long overdue, but he added that the allocation still fell far short of what the Installation Aid was in the past.

“€5m was allocated in the last Budget, with commitments that more would be secured if needed. The Minister needs to follow through on this; secure the necessary funding; and ensure that all forgotten farmers are not forgotten again,” said John Curran.

Meanwhile, Tuam Area Fine Gael councillor, Andrew Reddington, has welcomed the announcement of the new scheme by the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, and urged all eligible farmers to get their applications in before the 5.30pm deadline of Wednesday, August 13 next.

“The scheme aims to recognize farmers under 40 in 2015 who started farming before 2008 but missed out on previous support schemes, including young farmer installation aid and CAP supports.

“€5 million has been allocated in the Budget to fund this initiative, addressing an identified anomaly to ensure these farmers receive vital support and I thank the Minister for his support on this issue,” said Cllr. Reddington.

Pictured: Andrew Reddington: A welcome move.