Dr. Kevin Smyth:

The Deputy also asked about the issue of burning. He is absolutely right when he says no farmer should be a victim. No farmer who is a victim of burning, with somebody else having set the fire, will be penalised. I know that a number of the fires had nothing to do with gorse removal. Some them were sheer vandalism and nothing else. We will deal with such cases on the basis of force majeure. I can give the Deputy an assurance in that regard. However, the converse also applies. If we find that a farmer has deliberately started an uncontrolled fire without notifying the relevant authorities, he will be penalised. It operates from that point of view. I can make it absolutely clear that innocent farmers will not be penalised. The Deputy also spoke about the 50% rule. The Minister has decided that it is a 70% rule. We have fought the auditors in Brussels on this. The Minister's decision is that it is a 70% rule.