Nine westmeath farmers received sfps more than 100000 in 2014

Nine farmers in Westmeath received Single Farm Payment (SFP) cheques amounting to more than €100,000 apiece, figures released in Dáil Éireann have shown.

Of those, two received amounts of between €150,000 and €200,000 in 2014, while the other seven received payments of between €100,000 and €200,000.

The vast majority of farmers were in the lowest payment bracket, however, and 1,782 farmers received less than €10,000, and a further 628 received between €10,000 and €20,000.

Those who received between €20,000 and €30,000 accounted for 219 of the total, while there were 105 recipients of amounts ranging from €30,000 to €40,000 and 37 of amounts ranging between €40,000 and €50,000.

Some 23 farmers received between €50,000 and €60,000, and 16 received €60,000-€70,000; 11 received between €70,000 and €80,000; four received €80,000-€90,000 and three received between €90,000 and €100,000.

The figures were delivered by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, to Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív.

The table provided to Deputy Ó Cuív showed also that in neighbouring Meath, 40 farmers received payments of more than €100,000 apiece, three of those receiving sums of between €200,000 and €300,000.

In neighbouring Longford, no farmer received more than €100,000, and just 21 received more than €50,000 apiece, while in Offaly, the figures show that one farmer fell into the €150,000-€200,000 category, and six into the €100,000-€150,000 category.

The Single Farm Payment was introduced in 2005, and is calculated using the averages on which farmers received payment under various grant schemes in certain “reference years”.

As part of the payment, farmers are required to observe certain environmental rules and comply with statutory management requirements, such as the identification and registration of animals, and animal welfare requirements.

It replaced the various Arable Aid, Dairy Premium and Livestock Premia in place prior to that.