Disadvantaged Areas (DAS) and Single Farm (SPS) payments

• Ireland pays its Disadvantaged Areas (DAS) and Single Farm (SPS) payments earlier than most EU Member States and the 2011 payments are well in advance of 2010.

• To date €185m has been paid in DAS to 84,000 farmers – this is €51m ahead of the 2010 position. To date 84% of applicants have been paid in full and 100,000 farmers will be paid in 2011.

• The first possible legal date for the transmission of the Single Payment is 16th October under EU rules (the payment window is October 2011 to June 2012). As of today, a minimum of 102,000 farmers have been €496m in the first instalment – there are 20,000 farmers awaiting payment. A further half a billion euros will be paid when the second instalment is due in the week beginning 1st December.

• The Department of Agriculture will have paid SPS/DAS (€1,500 million) in full to 99% of applicants by end of December – the month when most Member States only start their payments.
Update on AEOS , REPS and TAMS
• Agri-environmental Options Scheme AEOS 1); There are about 8,500 participants in the scheme which was introduced following the termination of the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS). Approximately €2.5m representing the first instalment (75%) in respect of year 1 has issued to just approx 3,500 participants. All other participants will receive the first instalment payment or will have been notified of issues to be resolved by the end of this month. Payment of the second instalment of 25% will also issue shortly.
Payment in respect of year 2 will commence in early December. About 6,000 participants in the scheme have committed to undertake capital investments as part of their agri-environment options but many have not yet submitted the necessary documentary evidence required to indicate that the work has been carried out.
AEOS 2; approvals have issued to 6,350 new applicants to participate in the scheme with an effective starting date of 1 September. The remaining 450 applications involve queries which are still being examined and farmers will either be admitted or informed they are ineligible in the coming weeks.
REPS 4; There are 30,359 participants in REPS 4. Apart from the 589 cases which have outstanding queries which are being resolved with those concerned on an on-going basis, all participants have received the first instalment payment (75%) in respect of 2010 and almost 28,000 have received the second instalment (25%). Most of these payments issued either at the end of 2010 or early this year. Payment of the outstanding second instalment will issue later this month to the remaining 2,300 participants who incurred a penalty in 2010. Preparations are also more advanced than at this stage in 2010 to issue REPS 4 payments due in respect of 2011. These payments will commence at the end of November once all the necessary checks have been completed.

• Targeted Agricultural Measures Schemes (TAMS); These schemes promote on-farm investment in pig, poultry, sheep and dairy enterprises and in rainwater harvesting. The issuing of approvals is well advanced for all schemes. All outstanding approvals will issue in the next 3 weeks. The schemes are currently suspended for new applicants pending the outcome of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review and the 2012 Estimates process.