Farmers will be issued this week with statements of what they have received in direct payments from the Department of Agriculture last year.
The Department confirmed yesterday that it will issue 146,000 statements to farmers, covering last year.
It has been estimated that Irish farmers received just over €1.6 billion in EU and State aid during the year. This is slightly more than the €1.3 billion which will form the basis of the annual payout in Single Payments to farmers from 2005.
This is because that sum is based on the total of all payments made to the farmers during 2000-2002, which is lower than last year's payout.
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However, it will mean a direct payment of €280 on each hectare of land being farmed in the State.