Tag Archives: Minister Simon Coveney

There’s good news for Clare farmers this week, as payments under the 2014 Disadvantaged Areas Scheme have started issuing on schedule. “I am particularly pleased to see that these payments, worth some €149 million, are issuing on target, particularly given the significance of Direct Aid payments to individual farmers and the wider rural community,” the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney said in making the announcement. The minister confirmed that payments will continue to issue as individual cases are confirmed eligible for payment. “I expect in the region of 71,500 eligible farmers will receive their payments in the coming days, although it will in reality take at least one week to issue such a large volume of payments. However, there are a significant number who currently appear ineligible under the stocking provisions; these farmers can submit appropriate evidence to my department’s Portlaoise office, following which their payments will then be released.” Minister Coveney noted that the value …

When Agriculture Minister, Simon Coveney visited Liscannor on Sunday to participate in the John P Holland commemorations, he took time out to reassure Clare farmers that the Government is striving to help those who need it. His comment comes and pressure grows on State agencies and Clare County Council to redouble their efforts to assist farmers whose lands were hit by flooding in January and February. Many farmers are living in fear that there will be a repeat of the serious flooding unlesss repairs and restoration works are addressed immediately. Minister Coveney was given a tour of the worst affected arears when he visited Clare shortly after ther storms had abated. Clare IFA Rural Development chairman, Seamus Murphy said they want the county council and the relevant government agencies to ensure the engineer’s report they had commisioned document is acted on before the bad weather returns.

By Peter O’Connell A FORMER Clare IFA chairman said “nothing has been achieved” to date, with regard to the installation of flood defences along the banks of the Shannon Estuary and on to Doonbeg. At a meeting of Clare County Council’s Environmental and Water Services Strategic Policy Committee on Wednesday, Seamus Murphy claimed Clare farmers have been “abandoned and let down by the State”. He also revealed that Clare IFA-generated professional assessments of flood damage was deemed not acceptable by the Office of Public Works (OPW), who had been forwarded the reports by Clare County Council. “The county council staff in this section were overwhelmed with other storm damage work of a higher priority and could not undertake further work. They suggested farmers hire private engineers to undertake the assessment work,” Mr Murphy explained. “Officials from the OPW met with the IFA last week and, in the course of discussions, it was revealed that they would not act on the …