Galway receives €80m injection in EU payments

JUST 21 farmers in Co. Galway received annual payments in excess of €70,000 in EU grants last year, according to details released by the Dept. of Agriculture over the weekend.

Eyrecourt farmer Richard Bourns was the top Galway earner on just over €162,000 for the year between October 2013 and October, 2014.

Three other farm enterprises in Galway exceeded the €100,000 mark in payments – VG Land Holdings, Connemara (€120,000); Finbar Ryan, Loughrea (€110,000) and Joseph Naughton, Ballinasloe (€106,000).

Galway – the second biggest county territory wise behind Cork – came third in the overall payments league, receiving €80 million from the EU in 2014.

Cork were the top earners on €164 million followed by Tipperary on €100.6 million – payments in Mayo amounted to €57.5 million.

Over recent months there has been controversy over the decision by the Dept. of Agriculture to publish the payments to individual farmers.

However, according to the Dept., they are obliged under EU regulation 1306/2013 to ensure annual publication of all beneficiaries from CAP (Common Agricultural Policy).

According to the Dept., they must publish the name of the beneficiary, the municipality where the beneficiary is resident (normally equivalent to the area postal address) and the amount paid out.

As well as individual farm enterprises, the list of EU payments for Galway also includes a number of major schemes – the biggest of which was the Galway Rural Development Company (GRDC) in 2014.

Last year, the GRDC received a grant of €2.7 million from the EU while Comhar na nOileain Teo (the islands) received a block grant of €2.26m. Forum Connemara received a grant of €1.57 million.

Farm leaders had strongly opposed the publication of the names and addresses of the individual recipients although they hadn’t objected to a more general breakdown of the grant figures.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.