On Friday, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) announced that payments have started to issue under the Horticultural Exceptional Payment Scheme (HEPS) to eligible growers. The payments, capped at €100,000, will continue to issue through the month of September as applications are processed.
Payments to growers of field vegetables and apples will be made on an area basis at a rate of €400/ha. The department said that €2.8 million measure is designed to “ensure the short-term security and thus the long-term viability of these sectors”. The scheme funded through Ireland’s allocation for exceptional adjustment aid to producers in the agricultural and food production sectors.
The allocation was announced by the European Commission on March 23 in response to rising food security concerns in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Source: agriland.ie