EU PAYMENTS made to farmers and others in the agriculture sector will be made public from April 2009, the Department of Agriculture confirmed yesterday.
Ireland's 130,000 farmers receive over €1.4 billion annually from EU funds, but up until now these payments have been private even though last year the top 10 recipients had their names and amounts published.
Yesterday, however, the European Commission said that by the end of April next year, EU countries must publish an annual list of beneficiaries that get cash under the common agricultural policy (Cap) and how much each one has received.
At present there are no rules to force EU governments to do this even though the Irish Government conceded this year that the amounts would have to be published.
The Cap, a vast support programme worth €44 billion a year, accounts for close to half of the EU annual budget.
Yesterday the EU announced on its website that governments must publish the full name, municipality and, if possible, postal code of all recipients on nationally-managed websites with a search tool to enable the public to see how much money each person or company received.
Cash amounts will be broken down into direct payments to farmers and other support measures, the European Commission said in a statement.
The commission will also run its own website with internet links to each national site.
"This is taxpayers' money so it is very important that people know where it is being spent," said EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel.
Ireland is one of the EU countries which has traditionally not published the information on the annual payouts and resisted the commission demands for transparency. Payments are public in Northern Ireland, Scotland and England, and in many other European countries.
The Irish farming organisations have opposed the publication of amounts paid to their members and a new regulation which means they will receive electronic payments from this year.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has said publication will expose its members to the danger of "tiger-style" kidnappings.