The Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said that farmers and landowners affected by the Shass mountain landslide in Drumkeeran in July of last year can apply for their basic payments under CAP in 2021 using a force majeure clause.
In order to apply for the basic payment scheme, ANC payments etc, farmers had to declare that their land was in good agricultural condition.
Approximately 170,000 tonnes of peat was deposited on lands as a result of the landslide and farmers could not claim their land was in good agricultural condition unless they applied under force majeure which is an exceptional situation that is not foreseen or under the control of the farmers.
Deputy Marian Harkin requested Minister McConalogue to give the same commitment as Minister Cowen had last year that farmers could claim under force majeure and that there would be no penalties for such claims.
Minister McConalogue gave assurances that this year’s farm payments would not be affected
Replying to Minister McConalogue Deputy Harkin outlined that there are still a number of other issues to be addressed for the farmers impacted:
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