IFA National Livestock Chairman Brendan Golden said the €50m Beef Finisher Payment should be made by the Minister for Agriculture without delay.
“At our meeting of the Livestock Committee this week, we heard numerous calls for the immediate pay out under the scheme. The closing date was in September and farmers who incurred losses earlier this year have cashflow pressures,” he said.
Over 28,000 valid applications have been made under the scheme for almost 466,000 animals, which is based on the number of cattle sent for slaughter in the period from 1 Februaryto12 June. This is subject to a limit of100animals per herd at a payment rate of €100per animal.
The €50m scheme had been announced in June following a strong campaign by IFA highlighting the difficulties that beef finishers had endured because of Brexit and COVID-19 disruption.
Brendan Golden said any surplus monies in the scheme, when outstanding appeal cases are dealt with, must be directed towards cattle that were exported for direct slaughter. He said these animals can be easily identified from their export certs. They incurred the same losses as those processed in this country.
