This article is from page 38 of the 2007-05-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
FEARS that hundreds of Clare farm- ers would miss out on this year’s Single Payment/Disadvantaged Ar- eas Scheme were allayed this week as the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, announced an extension of the closing date for receipt of applications.
With farmers taking advantage of the recent spate of good weather to get work done on the land, it had been feared that thousands would lose out on valuable revenue because of not having the application in on time.
The scheme is a vital source of revenue for many Clare farmers and missing out on the scheme could have had a disastrous effect on farm- ing in the county.
Minister Coughlan has extended the final deadline for receipt of ap- plications under the scheme until this day week, Tuesday, May 15.
“IT have decided that the closing date should be extended to Tuesday, May 15, the latest date for receipt of applications as provided for under the governing EU Regulations,” said Minister Coughlan.
Despite the extension to the closing deadline, the processing of applica- tions under the 2007 Single Pay- ment/Disadvantaged Area Schemes worth over €1.6 billion annually to Irish farmers was already well under way in the Department of Agricul- ture.
However, the Minister indicated that by extending the date she was ensuring that farmers could not be
penalised for submitting a late appli- cation provided they submitted their application by the new deadline.
“I have already ensured that each farmer concerned was written to by my department, in order to ensure that everyone knows precisely the implications for their entitlements, should they fail to lodge an applica- tion under the 2007 Single Payment Scheme,” she continued.
‘Farmers are already aware of the exciting development of online regis- tration, following earlier correspond- ence from my department. The on- line application has several benefits, from the built-in validations, which will result in fewer errors in applica- tions being lodged, to the acknowl- edgment of receipt of the application by my department.”
The move was welcomed by Chair- man of Clare ICMSA, Martin Mc- Mahon.
‘Many farmers have run into prob- lems in relation to getting sufficient land in order to draw down entitle- ments and the extra period of time will give these farmers the oppor- tunity to maximise their payments under the Single Farm Payment,” he said.
“The problems in accessing land clearly highlighted the need for further improvements in the con- solidation arrangements and ICMSA would continue to argue that, in order for farmers to be able to draw down their full entitlements going forward, the conditions for consolidation need to be expanded and ‘the heat’ taken out of the rental land market.”