Published: Friday, 22nd January, 2010 11:00am

Almost 60% of Offaly farmers denied 'crucial' funding - Enright

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Almost 60% of Offaly farmers are still awaiting REPS 4 payments from 2009, according to Fine Gael Deputy Olwyn Enright.

It was revealed that out of the 696 participants in the scheme in Offaly during 2008 and 2009, only 284 received last year's payments, with 412 farmers or 59%, still waiting for their money. REPS has now closed to newcomers due to Government cutbacks.

Deputy Enright said the farmers are being "denied crucial funding".

"The participants in the REPS 4 scheme are desperately awaiting '09 payment three weeks into 2010. This situation is exacerbating an already critical cashflow situation at the farmgate," said Deputy Enright.

She said the failure of scheme payments came as farm incomes saw a drop of 30% in the past twelve months."Many farmers are struggling to get information from the Department on why their payment has been delayed.

The very least participants in REPS 4 should expect is a straight answer as to why they haven't been paid, and when they will be."The Deputy called on Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to take personal responsibility to ensure the outstanding payments are issued as swiftly as possible.  

"This situation has not been helped by the failure of the Government who have continuously cut farm gate schemes in successive budgets. The Ministers failure to ensure payment of REPS 4 on time merely adds fuel to the fire of financial difficulty," she added.