The Chairman and the committee have paid much attention recently to the farm safety programme. Up to €12.2 million has been allocated to it with 6,300 farmers applying for it. All remedial safety works must be completed by 31 August 2015, six months from now. The Department is processing applications with 4,000 already complete. The problem is the difference between processing an application and issuing the approval, a problem for which the blame lies with the Department. The Minister can do a public relations blitz, claiming he has 90% of the applications processed. However, getting the approval out to individual farmers to enable them to set in train their farm safety works, such as roofing or fencing off silage pits, is a different matter. How quickly can the Department get the approvals out?

I congratulate the Minister on his achievements in securing access for Irish beef exports back into the American and Chinese markets. What level of exports does the Minister anticipate achieving for the Chinese market? I know the Chinese authorities will send an inspection team for its final approval. How soon will the market be open for Irish exports? I know a grey market existed in this area for a few years. How much will this new development make it a more profitable market?

Potentially, 50,000 farmers will apply for GLAS, the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme. I was a farm planner myself back in the 1980s. I know if one gets bogged down in the bureaucracy that is often attached to some of these schemes, no matter how good a planner one is, one will be held up for weeks. Will the Minister streamline the bureaucracy?

A recent report stated the average payment in GLAS could be as low as €3,000, while the Minister was hoping the minimum payment would be €5,000. The 15 May deadline is pretty tight. It will have to be subject to some degree of elasticity. Is it true farmers will not be able to split a parcel of land to carry out different measures on separate field areas? Will they lose out as a result of this rule? These are the technical conditions which can see an applicant going down to €2,500 in a payment. I want to see people getting the maximum payment of €5,000 without the bureaucracy scribbling away trying to reduce it by 40% to 50%.