Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has confirmed its intention to issue advance payments for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening Payment from October 16.
DAERA added that advance payments will only be made on fully verified claims. The department is permitted by European regulations to make advance payments of up to 50% of the total individual value of the claim. The balance may be paid from December 1 of this year onwards, it noted.
A DAERA spokesperson said: “The delivery of advance payments in 2017 is a direct consequence of the increase in the number of farmers submitting their Single Applications online.
The department is committed to maximising the number of payments made to farmers in October and again in December.
Last year the commission, as an exceptional measure due to difficult trading conditions in agriculture across the EU, permitted member states to issue advance payments of up to 70% of claim value. However, the commission has not indicated that this will be repeated in 2017, the department has said.
The department has a facility for single application online help available on its website. For more information, DAERA can be contacted on its website.
