Mr. Gerry Gunning:

These payments account for about two thirds of direct payments. We did not want to come to this meeting without official figures and for this reason, we have with us the Teagasc national farm survey of 2011. We will revert to the joint committee on the position in 2012, which will reflect Deputy Ó Cuív's contention that direct payments reduced last year on the basis that farmers lost the REPS payment. While some of the farmers in question will have re-entered the agri-environment options scheme, this scheme is not the same as REPS. One must take account of all direct payments.

In answering a question on farm size Mr. Bryan noted that one third of those who lost out as a result of the cut introduced in the budget of October 2008 were located in mountain grazing areas. However, hill farmers make up only one fifth of the farmers in disadvantaged areas, which indicates that more farmers in mountain areas lost out than in other areas.