Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not think we are. The Minister has made apologies and excuses in the past few months for the mess which has resulted in many farmers not being paid and it is clear that preparations were not made to ensure this would not happen. There is an expectation that if they are committing to a plan that will take up 12 months, they will be paid. If there is confusion about this, the onus is on the Minister to give them advance warning to avoid what happened last year when farmers were expecting to receive their payment in October or before Christmas but 5,000 of them have still not received it.