An Achill councillor has raised concerns over the potential loss of farming payments for farmers in the area.
Councillor Paul McNamara says that following delays in payments under the new BIS scheme, many farmers on commonage land have gotten letters to say that due to an over claim on their application they may only receive half of their payment or in some cases, none of it.
They are then told they have 21 days to appeal that, but if they do, could be left waiting 6 to 8 months for the payment to be distributed, which would still mean no payment until next year.
The over claim is down to the issue of gorse fires on the land.
Councillor McNamara says reports from the fire service and Gardaí say it is not known what the cause was for the fires and a farmer should not be penalised for this.
He has been giving more information on the issue to Midwest Radio's Alannah Nolan....
