Over €3.3m for Beef Farmers in Cork under Environmental Scheme – O’Shea

Beef farmers in Cork will begin receiving payments into their bank accounts over the coming days, to help them farm as sustainably as they can, Fine Gael TD for Cork North West John Paul O’Shea has said.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, announced that €47.06 million will be paid to farmers around the country who participate in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme (SCEP). Over €3.3m of this funding will go to Farmers in Cork.

The scheme helps beef farmers improve the environmental sustainability of the national beef herd. This is the third year of SCEP as part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and builds on the gains delivered in the previous CAP through the Beef Data and Genomics Programme and the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEP), by improving the genetic merit of the Irish suckler herd.

Minister Heydon stated that: “Payments will be visible in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days. The issuing of payment under SCEP is crucial to the beef sector and farm families and my department will continue to process, as a matter of urgency, all remaining cases for payment as they meet scheme criteria.”

Deputy O’Shea said: “These funds being paid so close to Christmas gives good assistance to beef farmers in Cork. I understand that this money has issued to a total of 14,983 participating farmers around the country, which represents over 94% of current SCEP participants.”

Deputy O’Shea urged beef farmers participating in the scheme to submit any outstanding documentation do the Department of Agriculture or the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation as soon as possible, so any outstanding payments can be processed.