New AEOS regime slammed as 'unacceptable'

The IFA has sought an urgent meeting with the Minister for Agriculture to outline the gravity of his decision to reduce the number of farmers eligible and the maximum payment for AEOS this year. IFA President John Bryan said that rowing back on a budget decision is unacceptable as up to 2,000 farmers will now not be able to join the scheme, and those who do qualify will get a lower payment than what was promised. Cavan IFA Rural Development chairman James Spears estimated that over half of farmers who are likely to apply will now be rejected. He added that reducing the maximum payment by €1,000 is a major blow to low income farmers and the problem is significantly acute in SAC areas where farming activities are restricted. ICMSA echoed the IFA's comments, describing the new scheme as 'wholly inadequate and disappointing in the extreme.' The deputy president of ICMSA John Comer said that farmers would be looking at the "huge difference between what had been agreed in good faith with Government and what the Government was now delivering." Mr Comer said that farmers were fully aware of the Minister's funding problems but he said that there was little doubt that there remained much more waste and excess within the Department's own system than was to be found by cutting what were already extremely modest and hard earned payments to farmers. While welcoming Minister Simon Coveney's decision to reopen AEOS, Cavan members of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) expressed "extreme disappointment" at the halving of the total funding and the maximum payment cut. Paul Brady, ICSA sheep chairman and Ballinagh farmer, said: "For many farmers a maximum payment of €4,000 will make participation in the scheme a marginal exercise at best especially when costs are taken into account. "It is evident that this scheme will not be sufficient to cope with some 10,000 farmers exiting REPS 3 this year given that the funding is likely to be only sufficient for a maximum of 7,000 farmers. "This decision puts a question mark over the ability of the new Government to deliver on the potential of the Food Harvest 2020 report. However the decision by the Minister for Agriculture to re-open the AEOS has been welcomed by Deputy Joe O'Reilly, saying that farmers across Cavan will benefit from this move. "This announcement makes it clear that the Fine Gael/Labour Government is committed to looking after the interests of farmers, Irish agriculture and rural concerns while taking into account the difficult budget constraints facing the country. "The 2011 AEOS will provide the majority of farmers coming out of REPS with an opportunity to enter a new agri-environment scheme and avail of up to €4,000 per annum." Deputy O'Reilly blamed Fianna Fáil for not putting adequate funding in place to cover the cost of AEOS. "Putting the scheme together was difficult as the previous Fianna Fáil government had irresponsibly announced the AEOS without putting the necessary funding in place. In contrast, the new government has found the funding from within the Department without breaking expenditure ceilings and will be providing €25 million to fund the cost in a full year. "Fianna Fáil tried to pull an electoral stroke by announcing the scheme without saying how it would be funded but Fine Gael and Labour have shown that beneficial schemes can be provided for while keeping to the National Recovery Plan." Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan Monaghan, Brendan Smith refuted this allegation insisting that while in Government they had provided sufficient funding so that 10,000 farmers could apply to take part in the Scheme in 2011 and receive a maximum payment of €5,000. "The 2011 estimates for the Department Agriculture provided €337 million for REPS and AEOS," explained Deputy Smith, "which was actually an increase of €7 million on the 2010 allocation of €330 million. This was clearly outlined in the Department's statement at Budget time. It is clearly untrue to suggest that financial provision was not made for the scheme." He added: "Minister Coveney must clarify how many farmers will be eligible for the scheme and why only €4,000 will be awarded as the maximum payment. Farmers deserve the answers without delay so they can plan their finances and prepare their applications."