The IFA sat down with Fórsa, the public-sector trade union, to try to free up any logjams holding up farmer payments.

One issue that emerged related to a vacancy in the Department’s payments section that hadn’t been filled. Under work-to-rule, no one else could fulfil that function.

When it was explained how vital prompt farmer payments were, Fórsa agreed to a derogation, allowing other staff to do the job. It’s good to talk.

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