Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

They are inextricably connected. At the end of each year, farmers receive printouts. They then add everything together and the result represents the figure for their payments. I am trying to obtain a fix on this matter. Would it be possible, as a preliminary exercise, to indicate what were the various measures on the previous occasion? There has been a reduction of 11%. As the Minister indicated, in the early years we overpaid in the context of co-funding and it was then necessary to engage in a clawback exercise. I understand that under the new CAP, payments relating to any new agri-environment scheme will be approximately halfway between those which currently obtain in respect of REPS and AEOS. The amounts which previously applied in respect of the latter were €12,000 and €4,000, respectively, so farmers will be lucky if they obtain in the region of €6,000 in the future. The orders of magnitude which will apply must be made known to members because otherwise we will not be able to discuss the matter with farmers in any meaningful way. Would it not be possible for the Minister to indicate what was spent under the previous CAP and the pro-rata position which will apply under the new CAP - in this regard we must ensure that no more and no less co-funding than is required will be provided - and the amounts that will be available under the relevant schemes? It would be very useful to have the figures in that regard.