A clinic will be held in the Mullingar Park Hotel from 4pm to 7:30pm on Tuesday, May 1 to help Westmeath farmers with their online applications for the Basic Payment Scheme.
Further to existing supports available, such as telephone help-lines, how-to guides and instructional videos, staff from the Department of Agriculture will be available to meet with farmers on a one-to-one basis to assist them in making their applications.
Fine Gael TD Peter Burke, who farms with his father in Clonmore, Mullingar, said that the move to online applications can be intimidating to many farmers who are not used to dealing with computers. However, help is on hand to assist farmers.
“Online applications offer a range of benefits for farmers and also help the department to issue these vital payments more efficiently,” he said.
Almost 20,000 farmers have made their online applications this year and the recent growth in the number of online BPS applications shows more and more farmers are finding the best way to apply for schemes such as BPS and ANC is online.
Should farmers wish to contact the department in relation to their online application they can do so.
“My office is also open to provide information for farmers on online applications and to steer them in the right direction. I welcome that these clinics are being held in advance of the deadline and there is still plenty of time for farmers to ask questions and prepare their application so there is no last minute rush when the deadline approaches.”
Contact either (076 ) 1064424 with queries on registering for www.agfood.ie or 076 1064420 on actually completing the BPS application.
