Speculation grows on GLAS changes announcement

Speculation grows on GLAS changes announcement

Anton McNulty

As bilateral talks between the Department of Agriculture and the European Commission on the Rural Development Programme continues, there is speculation in farming quarters that an announcement on changes to the GLAS scheme will be made later this week.
The European Commission dealing with European Development Programme issued the Department of Agriculture with 266 questions regarding the Irish Rural Development Programme and it is understood some of the deal are in relation to the GLAS programme.
There are currently bilateral talks taking place between Dublin and Brussels and it is anticipated that the talks will be completed by the end of the week. This has led to speculation in hill farming circles that an announcement on possible changes to the GLAS programme will be made this Thursday.
A delegation of hill farmers met with the Minister for Agriculture and his officials in Dublin at the beginning of the month and presented him with their proposals on resolving the GLAS issue.
Brendan Joyce of the Hill Farmers Action Group said he would not comment on the speculation but welcomed Minister Simon Coveney’s acknowledgement they were taking their proposals on GLAS into consideration.

Positive outcome
“We are hoping there will be a positive outcome from the bilateral talks and the Minister’s admission  are taking into account our proposals on GLAS. But it is not just our issues being discussed, there were 266 questions sent by Brussels and there are a lot of issues which will have to be sorted,” he said.
Hill Farmers in commonage areas are calling on the Department of Agriculture to scrap the collective criteria for entering the GLAS scheme which they say is unworkable and discriminates against hill farmers.