INCREASING PRESSURE is being applied on the Government to give farmers who are owed over €500 million for work done on their farms a letter of guarantee to ensure they can receive credit from the banks.
A total of 17,400 farmers are owed over €500 million for buildings erected under the farm waste management scheme, which was funded by the exchequer and carried grants of up to 60 per cent.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association have claimed their members are coming under pressure from banks and face cashflow problems.
Jackie Cahill, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, has demanded full payment to farmers by mid-April.
“If the Minister cannot deliver this, he must meet the interest payments with banks and inspections should not hold up payments,” he said.
Padraig Walshe, president of the IFA, which held an emergency executive meeting on Wednesday on the issue, has been pushing for a letter of guarantee to ensure farmers continue to receive credit.
Following a meeting with Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith, Mr Walshe said the Minister had promised that the first 40 per cent of grant applications approved would be paid out from next week.
Mr Walshe said he was extremely dissatisfied that the Government had yet to confirm that farmers affected by the staged payments would incur no additional bank interest. He attacked the banks’ attitude towards farmers earlier in the day at a Dáil committee meeting.
Mr Walshe said the banks were being less than helpful to farmers at the present time.
“Despite positive public pronouncements, in too many situations, banks are overcharging farmers and are being unco-operative with their financial needs in the face of low milk margins and delayed grant payments,” Mr Walshe said.
The Minister has said that farm waste management scheme grants will be paid on a phased basis with 40 per cent being paid this year, as claims are approved, a further 40 per cent being paid in early January 2010 and the remaining 20 per cent paid in January 2011.
He had a meeting with the banks last week on the issue of continuing credit facilities for farmers.