IN A move interpreted by the farming organisations as a ploy to take the heat out of the Reps row, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith has announced a payout of €12 million to Reps 4 farmers.
He has been targeted by farmers since he announced the closure of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme 4 to new entrants prior to the McCarthy report.
However, yesterday, he said he would be paying the second instalment of the Reps 4 payments for 2008 in the coming week to 11,000 participants.
“I am glad that we are now in a position to make these payments to the farmers who joined Reps 4 in 2007 and 2008,” Mr Smith said.
“The same farmers will be eligible for a further €70 million in respect of 2009. On top of that, we received another 17,000 applications for Reps 4 by the closing date of May 15th and those farmers too, will be eligible for payment this year,” he continued.
“My department has completed a review of its procedures for processing applications and payments, following discussions with the commission last year, and I am confident that future Reps 4 payments can be released without undue delay,” he said.
He pointed out that as well as the farmers in Reps 4, there were over 34,000 farmers eligible for Reps 3 payments in 2009, amounting to more than €200 million.