This article is from page 59 of the 2008-08-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 59 JPG
CLARE farmers could loose out on essential grant payments if the De- partment of Agriculture does not adopt a flexible approach to the man- agement of the Farm Waste Manage- ment Scheme.
The scheme, which was brought in to allow farmers to complete works in order to bring their farms up to the standards set out by the nitrate regulations, is set to wrap up this December.
However, many farmers have in- vested money in farm improvement but now fear that they wont be able to complete the work and collect the grant in time.
Last week IFA Rural Development Chairman Tom Turley said that the momentum of completed work un- der the Farm Waste Management Scheme can be sustained if flexible arrangements are put in place at the end of the year to allow all farmers who commence work to secure grant zaTen
‘A record number of farmers have completed work with €160 million already paid out in grant aid to over 5,000 farmers this year,” he said.
“IFA predict that a further 20,000 farmers are currently carrying out work under the scheme but many will have difficulty in completing their work by the end of year dead- line.”
The IFA Rural Development Chair- man called for flexible arrangements to be put in place by the Department of Agriculture to ensure that any farmer who has commenced work is not denied grant aid. Completing work by the end of the year is going to be very difficult due to a lack of capacity of farm builders.
“The recent Teagasc National Farm Survey clearly highlights the scale of investment on Irish farms with €1.4 billion spend in 2007 and at least an equivalent amount in 2008.
‘This investment can be continued if the Government show flexibility to the end of year deadline, which in turn will have a huge knock-on effect in sustaining employment in the con-
struction industry in rural areas.
“Tf all farmers are allowed to com- plete work it will generate further investment in 2009 and will have a knock-on effect in the wider econo- neha Meanwhile, the Road Safety Au- thority is advising the public that the deadline for the submission of views on the use of agricultural vehicles on public roads has been extended.
The closing date for receipt of com- ments is now Friday September 26, 2008.
The Road Safety Authority is invit- ing the public to submit their views on a consultation document regard- ing the use of agricultural and works vehicles on public roads.