19/09/2017

Over 75,000 Farmers To Benefit From 2017 Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme

Payments worth in excess of €160,000 are to begin this week as part of the 2017 Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, has announced.

More than 75,000 farmers are to benefit from the payments.

Making the announcement, Minister Creed, said: "The ANC Scheme is an important support for farmers in many regions of the county, and I am delighted to announce that payments have now started to issue. My Department will continue to process remaining cases for payment as a matter of urgency over the coming weeks."

The Minister also noted that the value and number of payments issued in the first tranche is significantly higher than the 2016 figure, when €140 million was issued to 65,000 farmers.

Minister Creed continued: "These figures underscore my determination to maximise payments to farmers in the most timely manner possible. In addition, the increased uptake on online applications under the 2017 ANC and BPS schemes continues to bring benefits for farmers and my Department in terms of more efficient processing of applications. This trend will continue as we move towards 100% online applications from 2018."

(MH/JP)

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