Ireland-Farmers lose out.

IRELAND-FARMERS LOSE OUT.

More than 600 farmers could lose out on REPS 4 payments for 2008 and 2009 because of difficulties with their applications.

Despite intense lobbying by farmer organisations, it is understood that the Department will reject hundreds of applications for the scheme because the plans lodged do not meet requirements.

Many of the plans will now have to be amended and resubmitted, but, as this must be done before the May 15 deadline, farmer bodies insisted that the decision would see farmers being excluded from REPS.

The decision has been slammed by the IFA, who are now seeking an urgent meeting on the matter with Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith.

Derek Deane, the IFA’s deputy president, said the REPS 4 approval process had degenerated into a "debacle".

Mr Deane called on Minister Smith to instruct his Department to allow flexibility for amended REPS 4 plans to be submitted after May 15 so that the affected farmers can qualify for payments due in 2008 and at the end of 2009.

Meanwhile, ICSA rural development chairman Gabriel Gilmartin has expressed concern regarding a proposed amendment under the rural development programme, which will mean that, under the REPS scheme, fences required for watercourses, habitats and boundaries must be kept in place at all times, regardless of the presence of livestock. This change arises after criticisms of the REPS scheme by EU auditors.

Mr Gilmartin said this had the potential to add significant costs to REPS participation in certain cases, at a time when the values of REPS payments were being slashed.

Mr Gilmartin also pointed out that the requirement involves fencing out at least 1.5m from the edge of a watercourse, which will result in a significant loss of land. This is rendered even more problematic for farmers by the recent demand from a different section of the EU Commission that farmers deduct areas of hedgerows and drains, greater than two metres in width, from their Single Farm Payment area. Consequently, some farmers will actually have to reduce their number of hectares and, by extension, their entitlements.

"Farmers are confronted with an impossible dilemma," Mr Gilmartin said.

- Declan O’Brien