IRISH FARMERS who will be receivingmore than €500 million in EU payments from Monday next and have received €131 million in other payments over the past three weeks, are complaining the payments are too slow.
Earlier this year the Department of Agriculture said there were errors in the forms farmers were submitting for payment and had written to them seeking clarification.
Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith arranged for an early payout of half the main EU farm support, the Single Farm Payment, from Monday next, and said the last quarter of the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme (DAS) would issue from Wednesday.
But John Comer, deputy president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association said payments for a huge number of farmers were not issuing in line with the schedule set out by the Minister in September.
He said some farmers were still awaiting their initial DAS payment.
The Irish Farmers Association president, John Bryan, said recent delays arising from mapping problems must not disrupt the payout of the Single Farm Payment.