THE Minister of State for Skills and Further Education and Limerick County Fianna Fáil TD, Niall Collins, has welcomed the announcement by his colleague Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, that payments under the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme have commenced with payments worth over €7 million being issued this week to 3,700 Limerick farmers.
Minister Collins commented, “I am delighted to see payments totalling €7,295,628 have issued to 3,756 farmers across Limerick in the first tranche of advance payments under the ANC scheme. This is in line with previous years.
“I am conscious of the importance of the timely delivery of payments under the ANC scheme. The ANC scheme is a crucial one for so many farm families and I know my colleague Minister McConalogue was keen to issue payments as soon as possible. These payments represent a timely and significant financial boost for farmers and for the wider rural economy. The issuing of these payments in mid-September underscores Fianna Fáil’s determination to maximise payments to farmers at the earliest possible time.
“Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days and the Department of Agriculture will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria.”
Minister McConalogue confirmed that arrangements are being made by the Department to facilitate payment of the advance of 70% under the Basic Payment Scheme with effect from 18th October 2021.
In line with last year’s arrangement, the payments currently issuing are an 85% advance payment on the ANC Scheme. 15% balancing payments are due to commence in early December.
In line with previous years, not all applications are currently cleared for payment under the ANC Scheme. In particular, many farmers have yet to satisfy the annual average stocking density of 0.15 livestock units per forage hectare for the calendar year. However, farmers have until 31 December 2021 to do so. Such cases can only be cleared for payment once this requirement has been confirmed.
Regular pay runs will continue in the coming weeks to ensure cleared cases are processed for payment as quickly as possible. Farmers should submit any outstanding stocking evidence in support of their application to the Department’s Portlaoise Office as soon as possible to facilitate the early release of payments.
