Anyone received RESP4 cheques yet?

lanod2407

Has anyone received a REPS4 cheque yet?

If not - anyone know when they're going to be paid? I've been told by my Teagasc advisor "next month" since October .................

snowman707

lanod2407 wrote: »

Has anyone received a REPS4 cheque yet?

If not - anyone know when they're going to be paid? I've been told by my Teagasc advisor "next month" since October .................

No

lodged our reps 4 plan early jan 08 .. no cheque or correspondence other than my reps number,

your guess is a s good as mine

gernon

I believe some people have received payments this week

lanod2407

Here's what I've found (my own personal moans includedd!!!):

Called Teagasc last week (my REPS plan was completed by Teagasc) and they said that some cheques were going out this week, but that many, many plans had been pulled for 'investigation'. They couldn't tell me where mine was.

I then called the local Dept Ag office and gave them my REPS4 number - they told me that my plan had been rechecked (it had been passed and approved last year!!!!!!) and 'failed'. Said that they thought it might be for something very minor, but could not tell.

All failed plans are now going back to be rechecked again and the prognosis is that some of those will be passed, with others going back to the owners to be revised.

I'm at a bit of a loss here - why the change now? Is it an eagle-eyed person spotting mass non-compliance issues across the country, or is there something more cynical in terms of delaying payment ...........???

There's one thing I'm really regretting now - I'll not pay Teagasc for the plan again until AFTER I've received my payment - was told by a farmer friend last week that you learn quite quickly to pay only when you've been paid!!

I'm going to call the Dept of Ag again and ask them to send me back my plan with whatever notes are written on it so that I can get it corrected myself and get it back in for processing ............ this thing could get dragged out for months and months, with payment delayed until late in the year. I'll let you know how I get on.

I'm really annoyed with this stuff - how the hell can the government expect people to get on with their business when the banks are shutting up shop and the government's own internal departments are running us ragged with sharp practice stunts like this??

To be honest, I'm not waiting for a lot of money but it'll pay for the ditches to be cleaned up, a field to be re-levelled and seeded, and a large volume of fruit plants to be bought and planted .......... can't imagine how peeved I'd be if I was really depending on this stuff to put bread on the table!!

snowman707

lanod2407 wrote: »

Here's what I've found (my own personal moans includedd!!!):

Called Teagasc last week (my REPS plan was completed by Teagasc) and they said that some cheques were going out this week, but that many, many plans had been pulled for 'investigation'. They couldn't tell me where mine was.

I then called the local Dept Ag office and gave them my REPS4 number - they told me that my plan had been rechecked (it had been passed and approved last year!!!!!!) and 'failed'. Said that they thought it might be for something very minor, but could not tell.

All failed plans are now going back to be rechecked again and the prognosis is that some of those will be passed, with others going back to the owners to be revised.

I'm at a bit of a loss here - why the change now? Is it an eagle-eyed person spotting mass non-compliance issues across the country, or is there something more cynical in terms of delaying payment ...........???

There's one thing I'm really regretting now - I'll not pay Teagasc for the plan again until AFTER I've received my payment - was told by a farmer friend last week that you learn quite quickly to pay only when you've been paid!!

I'm going to call the Dept of Ag again and ask them to send me back my plan with whatever notes are written on it so that I can get it corrected myself and get it back in for processing ............ this thing could get dragged out for months and months, with payment delayed until late in the year. I'll let you know how I get on.

I'm really annoyed with this stuff - how the hell can the government expect people to get on with their business when the banks are shutting up shop and the government's own internal departments are running us ragged with sharp practice stunts like this??

To be honest, I'm not waiting for a lot of money but it'll pay for the ditches to be cleaned up, a field to be re-levelled and seeded, and a large volume of fruit plants to be bought and planted .......... can't imagine how peeved I'd be if I was really depending on this stuff to put bread on the table!!

we had have spent some money on some of the older buildings & on fencing, I am with a private planner fair play to him he has not looked for payment for drawing up the plan. unlike when we were with teagasc,

ChewyLuey

Got a payment notification last week. as they don't bother to tell you on the remittance slip how much of your total it is I called and asked.
The payment was 75% of my 2008 payment with the balance of 25% due "in the next few weeks"
Sounds like I may be one of the lucky ones so far.

PS I used a private planner (west Cork) and they were very good to deal with. It looks like their plan got through the checks which is good considering the differences in interpretations of the REPS conditions that seem to be out there.

lanod2407

Spoke with the Dept of Ag in Raheen, Limerick again last week and they said that a new wave of REPS4 payments were due out in the coming week, but no idea of where my plan is or what the problem is. Apparently they've gone through the "failed" plans again and been able to "fix" some of them and process them for payment.
There'll be another phase of checks and then the remaining "failed" plans will most probably be returned to the relevant planners for amendment.

I've been advised to call back in 2 weeks - that would be March 2 - but I've hedge-cutters due to do some work in the next few days and want to have straining posts delivered beforehand so he can driven them into the corners of the fields for me while he has the machinery onsite .......... that's the bones of a grand to be spent BEFORE I find out what the story is regarding my cheque ...............

I'm really p*ss*d, as if I delay the hedge-cutting I'll get caught with the March deadline and end up waiting until the end of the year .............. and if I go ahead and my payment doesn't happen then I'm in the hole for another grand

........... why do I smell lots of rats in this ...........

snowman707

we got our payment last friday,

it wasn't 75% of what our planner had calculated for 2008

it appears they are paying from the date the application was received, (in our case January. So we received eleven/twelves of the total X 75%

Nevertheless it was welcome,

still awaiting any word on a sheep subsidy (ewe maintance ) we held up the ewe numbers to see if any payment would come,

lanod2407

Snowman - good to hear someone is getting paid.

Here's my latest update - I'll keep it brief (just to set the scene, I'm practically going through the keyboard as I type!!!)

Spoke with Teagasc Planner last night. 11% of REPS4 payments have been made.
For the 89% further "administrative checks" will take place and an element of those will be passed and paid.
The remaining plans will be returned to the farmer (contract is between the Dept and the Farmer) with a covering letter in "the next few weeks".
Where your plan is rejected outright, you can re-apply - BUT it's a new application and any money you thought you'd get for the period between your application and today is .......... gone.
I'm not clear on whether or not a returned plan constitutes a "fail" and re-apply with the clock re-set.

I'm sure the Dept Legal guys are busy burning the midnight oil to pen letters that will enable them to renege on the letters we received last year approving our applications and advising that the money is "on the way"!!!

btw - I believe the Dept may be about to go on strike for a day next week? Any truth in that?

lanod2407

Today's update:

Been in touch with the local Dept Ag regularly and am now informed that my plan has been approved and should be paid in the next 3 weeks. I believe there may be a final sign-off required .......... so crossing the fingers!

lanod2407

Got a call yesterday from the Dept to say that my plan has a problem - the reps habitat needs to be declared on my SFP.
Called my planner and he will have proof of postage for the change tomorrow that I deliver to the Dept office ........... and then my payment is cleared!! ....... Yahoo!

Curious Geroge

Is this discussion based around the REPS payment for 09 ? I got my 08 payment in August of 08 (in full). Is there problems with the 09 payments ?

lanod2407

Curious George,

I'm referring to REPS4 payments. I believe that the first REPS4 payments, which were meant to be paid last Sept / Oct have only recently started to be paid.

Unless I'm mistaken, REPS4 payments come from the Irish Exchequer, whereas the other schemes are financed from Europe ........... and the locally funded REPS4 appears to be slow getting paid.

Bovary

hey still waiting on my reps payments for 09 just wondering is any one out there still waiting just wondering whats the story as usual Dept of agri just keeps fobbing me off any advice ?

lanod2407

Did the REPS4 training course last week in Ardfinnan - have you done the course yet? Apparently you need to do the course in Yr 1 or 2 and if you don't do it you may not get paid - not sure.
You then send the Certificate from the course to the Dept and get an additional payment - circa €130.

I didn't know the course was on - a great neighbour told me about it - great Planner!!! - Not!

Payment - heard there that all payments must be made before Dec 22 - and that there is pressure on to pay people in the scheme since last year - right now the Dept are taking the line that no-one gets paid until all plans have been checked. The only plans to be checked are those that are new for 2009 - typical delay tactics if you ask me!!!

I'll be calling the local office Monday to see if my cert has been received and processed as I want the extra payment in the next cheque. Will let you know how I get on.

DanFindy

lanod2407 wrote: »

Did the REPS4 training course last week in Ardfinnan - have you done the course yet? Apparently you need to do the course in Yr 1 or 2 and if you don't do it you may not get paid - not sure.
You then send the Certificate from the course to the Dept and get an additional payment - circa €130.

I didn't know the course was on - a great neighbour told me about it - great Planner!!! - Not!

Payment - heard there that all payments must be made before Dec 22 - and that there is pressure on to pay people in the scheme since last year - right now the Dept are taking the line that no-one gets paid until all plans have been checked. The only plans to be checked are those that are new for 2009 - typical delay tactics if you ask me!!!

I'll be calling the local office Monday to see if my cert has been received and processed as I want the extra payment in the next cheque. Will let you know how I get on.

Dalay tactics i would say are the key words here, as i said before i was at the reps conference during the week and the story in a nutshell is as follows...460million to be paid out in reps this year 330million is the pool of money available.....

Bovary

hey cheers for those replies appreciate yer efforts I suspect that Danfindy may be correct and we may all just have to wait while the Dept drags its heels