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

On the milk situation, I note what the Minister said about efforts to reverse the policy. My main concern is that some people might become involved in huge investments in milk without doing proper price sensitivity tests and factoring in enough volatility. There is always a temptation on the part of people who go to invest to think that they have considered the best scenario and the worst scenario, but the worst scenario is not as bad as the really worst scenario. I would be worried particularly about young people investing without enough capital, being totally or highly dependent on borrowing and then running into trouble.

Will the Minister tell us how many children benefit from the milk and fruit schemes, and will the new proposal make it simpler to administer at a national level? Are the benefits of the scheme focused on those who are most in need?

On the term "island farming", can the Minister confirm that a farmer would have to produce and process on the islands? That is my understanding of it. If that is so, it is relatively irrelevant in the context of the Irish islands. A second issue is whether islands connected to the mainland by causeways and bridges might still be considered islands. One drives on to Achill Island via a bridge, for example. Can the Minister confirm that? Thirdly, what is the maximum size of island allowed? There was always great debate on this in Europe, where we have Sardinia, Corsica, Ireland and Sicily with 5 million people and so on. I am not sure that the idea is of any relevance to Ireland when one considers the scale of European islands.

The Western Isles and the Shetland Islands in Scotland are much bigger than our islands. Scotland has smaller islands but I am referring to the bulk of the islands. Will the Minister comment on this? I am not convinced it is hugely relevant. Store cattle produced on an island are taken to the mainland, as happens everywhere else. Other produce is minimal and is consumed on the islands.

My views on the CAP package are well known but I seek clarification on several issues. Under the GLAS conditions for commonages 50% of farmers must join on the same day for Tier 2. Is this active farmers on a commonage or all landowners? There is a huge difference between the two. Is this with regard to 50% of those who submitted an area aid application or 50% of those who own a share in the commonage? Whether or which, in most commonages this will be unworkable. Will it be possible to return to the individuality of the previous CAP? If we cannot do so the vast majority of commonage farmers will be locked out of the GLAS scheme. I cannot see the Minister getting 50%, or 80% for Tier 1, to join with a total farm on the same day. It is crucial to get clarification on this today.

Another issue which arises with regard to commonages is the regulation seems to contain an indication that a farmer who does not put sheep or cattle on the commonage would no longer be able to claim that land. In the past many farmers had a handy arrangement. For example, if Senator Ó Domhnaill and I were in a commonage and both of us also had enclosed land, and he had sheep on the commonage but I did not bother putting sheep there, which suited him because he could put more sheep there, until now both of us could claim a single farm payment on all our farms, like any other farmer, so long as they were in good agricultural and environmental condition. The regulation seems to indicate that if I did not actually put livestock on the commonage, even if it was kept in good agricultural and environmental condition by our combined efforts, I would not be able to receive any single farm payment, not only for the commonage but also for my own land. Is this a fact? The regulation seems to be less than specific but it seems to open up this possibility.

If the CAP opens at the end of this year, based on previous experience it will take several months to prepare plans and submit applications so farmers will join at some stage in 2015. From a reply the Minister gave to a parliamentary question the indications are the first payment of 75% would be received at the end of the first year of the scheme. This means, if one is lucky, one's first payment will be towards the end of 2016 and the 25% will follow in due course. This is if the Department can handle 25,000 applications promptly. It took the Department five or six months to handle 6,000 agri-environment options scheme payments.