Farmers are seeing a bit of cash land back in their accounts as the government has begun distributing €13.4 million in Basic Payment Scheme Refunds.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed announced this week that payments have begun to roughly 98,000 farmers affected.
This money was deducted from 2017 Basic Payment Scheme payments under the the Financial Discipline rule, and is now being reimbursed in line with the EU regulations.
Minister Creed said “I am pleased to confirm that these payments totaling €13.4 million are now being reimbursed to eligible farmers.”
The Minister added that “these payments will bring the total paid to Irish farmers under the 2018 Basic Payment Scheme to €1.19 billion”.
The financial discipline mechanism is part of the annual budgetary process of the European Union which is implemented by member states.
States take a monetary deduction from some direct payments to create a financial Crisis Reserve for the European Union.
The crisis reserve is intended to provide additional support for the agricultural sector in the case of major crises affecting agricultural production or distribution.
In the event that the Crisis Reserve is not activated in the financial year, or it is not fully utilised, the balance not used is refunded to farmers in the subsequent financial year, hence this reimbursement.