A LEADING trade unionist has reacted angrily to confirmation by the Department of Agriculture "that more than £1 million worth of cheques were left uncashed by farmers at the end of 1996.
Mr Jimmy Somers, vice president of SIPTU, last night described this as a scandal. He said it was another example of the difference between the world of the PAYE worker, those on welfare and the farmer.
Mr Somers said: "A PAYE worker would not be capable of operating in this way. He or she cashes the cheque the minute they get it. The do not have the capacity to put it by or lose it," he said.
"At a time when benefits are being taxed by the Government this is disgraceful. The money should be used to pay the arrears of tax owed by farmers," he said.
In all, 2,337 cheques to the value of £1,000,913 were not drawn down by the end of last year, an average of just over £400 per cheque.
The cheques were paid out to farmers for the various EU and national schemes for farming, including setaside, beef premium and headage payments and were according to a Department spokesman, relevant to all schemes.
He said some of the cheques - had been issued in 1995 but had expired after the statutory six months; others had been issued last year.
"At the end of the year there were a total of 2,337 uncashed cheques to the value of £1,000,913," said the spokesman. ,He said the figure was similar to last year's total.
The spokesman said that some farmers had approached the Department to say they had lost or mislaid their cheques. These cheques were replaced if there was another record of the payments having been made.
He said the payments were a portion of more than £700 million paid annually through the post, which was nearly 50 per cent of farm families' income.
In the beef sector, he said, direct payments make up nearly 44 per cent of income. Overall, they accounted for just over one third of total income farmers make from their land.