Almost 50% of farmers who have been using Ulster Bank and KBC have not yet provided the Department of Agriculture with a new account for receipt of payments.
With the planned exit of Ulster Bank and KBC from the Irish banking sector, farmers are being urged to contact the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as soon as possible with their new account details to ensure uninterrupted receipt of their scheme payments.
According to the department, some 6,000 of the 12,000 farmers who received scheme payments to Ulster Bank and KBC bank accounts during 2022 to date have now provided new account details.
Around 4,800 of the recent Area of Natural Constraints scheme payments were issued to Ulster Bank and KBC bank accounts, compared with 10,000 for the same payment run in 2021.
This indicates that almost 50% of farmers who have been using the banks have not yet provided the department with a new account for receipt of payments.
No need to wait until bank account is closed
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalague said that the department has actively engaged with farmers that have had scheme payments issued into accounts in these two banks.
“Between March and August of this year, my department communicated by letter and text with some 12,000 farmers that had received scheme payments into Ulster Bank and KBC accounts during 2020 and 2021, and who still had these accounts registered with the department,” he said.
“Farmers were advised how to access the necessary payment mandate form which was enclosed in the letters and also available from my department’s website.”
He said that in early September, as part of a general letter advising farmers of expected scheme payment dates, they were once again reminded of the need to notify the department when they change the account into which they wish to receive payments.
“There is no need to wait until their Ulster Bank or KBC bank account is closed,” Mr McConalogue added.
The KBC closure only affects a small number of its farmer customers – less than 50 – the department said.
(Source – Irish Examiner – Farming – Kathleen O Sullivan – 03/10/2022)