The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., announced the commencement today of the 2018 advance payments in respect of the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS). The first pay run will see over €116m paid to over 33,000 participants under the scheme. This payment is two weeks earlier than last year and sees an additional 7,000 participants paid in the initial tranche compared to last year.
The Minister said; “I am delighted that these payments have commenced ahead of schedule and that we are paying more participants than before in the first pay run. This payment of €116m is also due to my securing the agreement of the EU Commission for a higher advance payment rate of 85% for 2018. These payments are a valuable support for farmers across Ireland and are a welcome boost to the wider rural economy”.
The Minister also commented that “This GLAS payment when added to the advance BPS payment and the ANC payments brings the total issued to Irish farmers in the last six weeks to some €1.1 billion. This is a significant boost to on-farm cash flows and once again marks Ireland at the forefront of EU member states in making advance payments on this scale”.
Concluding, the Minister confirmed that there will be weekly GLAS pay runs from next week and he urged farmers with outstanding documentation such as Nutrient Management Plans, Commonage Management Plans, Rare Breed or Low Emission Spreading to engage with their GLAS agent and ensure that it is submitted as quickly as possible in order to receive payment.
