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Farm grant plans 'break EU rules' | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
The Department of Agriculture may be forced to scrap its decision to allocate new farming grants on a first come, first served basis. | |
Michael Mann, a spokesman for the Agriculture Commissioner, said the department's methods were "unacceptable" and broke EC rules. | |
"A first come, first served basis is not an acceptable way of doing this," Mr Mann said. | |
He was speaking after hundreds of farmers queued overnight to get grants. | |
However, NI Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew has defended her decision saying there was "no easy way" to allocate the money for modernising farms. | |
Mr Mann said the commissioner's office had written to Dard to explain that the first-come first-served procedure was unacceptable. | |
"When it comes to modernisation methods like the ones we are talking about in the Northern Irish case, the rules say that you have to make the decision on who gets the money based on clear criteria," he said. | |
"We have been in contact with the Northern Ireland authorities and told them that a first come, first served basis is not an acceptable way of doing this." | |
Some farmers spent almost two days queuing outside eight government offices across Northern Ireland to apply for the grants. | Some farmers spent almost two days queuing outside eight government offices across Northern Ireland to apply for the grants. |
'Unwieldy' | |
The £6m funding package will allow only 1,200 farmers to benefit from the maximum grant award. | The £6m funding package will allow only 1,200 farmers to benefit from the maximum grant award. |
Some farmers had been in the queue since Sunday ahead of Tuesday's 0900 GMT opening. | Some farmers had been in the queue since Sunday ahead of Tuesday's 0900 GMT opening. |
"If we had done assessment panels it would have been a lot more bureaucratic and a lot more unwieldy," argued Ms Gildernew. | |
The EU rural development programme grants are designed to help improve animal welfare and farm efficiency. | The EU rural development programme grants are designed to help improve animal welfare and farm efficiency. |
Farmers who receive grant applications will be able to buy from a government-approved list of items such as cow mattresses, creep feeders and computerised livestock identification systems. | |
If a farmer gets the maximum grant of £5,000, they must spend £7,000 of their own money on improvements to their farm. | If a farmer gets the maximum grant of £5,000, they must spend £7,000 of their own money on improvements to their farm. |
Ms Gildernew said it was an "important boost to the economy", because many of the items on the approved list have been made in Northern Ireland. | Ms Gildernew said it was an "important boost to the economy", because many of the items on the approved list have been made in Northern Ireland. |
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