Farmers urged to return TPDA forms
Councillor Terry Hearty is urging farmers to ensure that they fully complete and return TPDA forms to DARD before the deadline on March 13th.
The Transitional Payment to Disadvantaged Areas scheme is a one off payment to farmers from disadvantaged areas who are no longer eligible to receive less favoured area payments.
The Sinn Fein Agricultural spokesperson for Newry and Mourne said it is important the forms are completed correctly or farmers could lose out on money owed to them.
“This scheme has been offered to 7500 farmers so there will be significant money lost here if forms aren’t completed on time and in full,” he said.
“DARD has said that of the forms they have received back around 35 per cent have left the section on de minimis aid blank.Now, the de minimis aid threshold was set at E15,000 over three years so it is unlikely many, if any, farmers will have exceeded this amount but even if you are under the threshold it is still an EU requirement that you indicate whether or not you have received any de minimis payment in the past three years.
He added, “If you are unsure if a payment you received falls under de minimis or have any questions about the TPDA form I’d urge you to get in contact with DARD as soon as possible as any mistakes can delay your payment.”
Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=49325