Tens of thousands of farmers have not yet returned their claim form for their EU single payment which will determine how much they will get in direct aid for the next number of years.
Despite intense political pressure, Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has refused to extend the deadline of Monday next for the receipt of the claim form.
The EU single payment will replace all other EU payments to farmers, and is part of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) which broke the link between production and farm supports.
The Department of Agriculture sent out 160,000 forms to claimants, but up until yesterday some 80,000 landowners had not returned them.
Forms not submitted by Monday could mean that farmers could lose as much as 4 per cent per day of their entitlements which collectively are worth €1.3 billion.
The Department of Agriculture has arranged for its offices to open far beyond normal working hours this weekend.
It is expecting 10,000 applications each day up to the closing time on Monday night.
It has arranged that the department offices in Portlaoise, where the forms will be processed for payment, will be open to the public on Saturday from 9.15am to 5.30pm. It will also be open on Sunday.
It was open last weekend on both Saturday and Sunday
The office will also be open on Monday from 9.15am until midnight.
Local county offices will remain open to the public on Saturday from 9.15am to 5.30pm.
The department has also set up a special helpline for farmers who are making applications (1890 200 566). This line has already dealt with more than 50,000 calls.
The payments farmers will receive over the next nine years will be based on the money they were paid by the EU in the first three years of this decade.
Farmers decided to opt for the single-payment system on the basis that it would reduce bureaucracy and would make their lives easier.
Some have described the form which is due to be filed by Monday as the "form to end all forms".
The first of the single payments is due to be paid in December.