Banks say credit is available for farmers

CREDIT AVAILABILITY is not a problem for farmer borrowers, the Irish Farmers Association has been told by the five main banks…

CREDIT AVAILABILITY is not a problem for farmer borrowers, the Irish Farmers Association has been told by the five main banks.

The organisation met AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, ACC and NIB to assess the credit situation and to review the repayment performance of farmers.

All five banks said credit availability was not a problem for farmer borrowers subject to the normal qualifications, said James Kane, farm business commute chairman.

On the repayment performance by farmers, the banks' view was that they did not see any significant problems. On the harvest problems facing grain farmers, an "understanding attitude" by the banks was sought.

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Meanwhile, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association said it would consider a judicial review of the Department of Agriculture's closure of the Farm Investment Scheme which has left at least 3,000 farmers stranded.

It said, according to legal opinion, farmers had a legitimate expectation to have their applications fully processed as they made valid applications before the closure of the scheme was announced.