Clare Farmers To Receive Farm Waste Management Scheme Payments

Payments will commence this week with the majority of payments being made today.

Minister of State Killeen said the scheme was the most significant on-farm investment scheme in the history of the State. He added that the substantial payment of grant-aid under the Scheme represented a vote of confidence in a vital indigenous industry with a huge export presence.

The Clare Fianna Fail Deputy pointed out that, when the final tranche of 20 per cent is paid out under the Scheme in early 2011, total expenditure under the Scheme since its introduction would amount to over EUR1.2 billion and all this grant aid is funded by our own Exchequer. "By providing the necessary platform for ensuring compliance by the agricultural sector in Ireland with the requirements of the Nitrates Directive, the importance of the Scheme to the sector generally could not be over-estimated", he stated.

The expenditure of EUR190 million under the Farm Waste Management Scheme is in addition to the EUR49 million already paid out by his Department by way of the second tranche of grant-aid under the Scheme towards the end of 2009. In all, a total of EUR293 million was paid under the Scheme in 2009, which compared with an original allocation of EUR220 million, and by the end of this month, total Exchequer funding for this Scheme will have exceeded EUR1 billion.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor:
- High-resolution images of Tony Killeen, Fianna Fail TD for Clare, and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with special responsibility for Forestry, Fisheries and the Marine, may be downloaded from www.dunphyprimages.com
- For further information please contact Mark Dunphy of Dunphy PR at media@dunphypr.com or 086-8534900

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