Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The original commitment was that we would meet the liability if everybody applied, which was 2.5 million ewes at €10 per ewe. Not all of them applied, so the liability ended up at approximately €20 million. In 2017, we paid an advance on that. The balancing liability will be paid in the second quarter of 2018.

On Deputy Corcoran Kennedy's point about organics, we have approximately 1,740 farmers in the organic scheme. That is a higher level of beneficiaries than we ever had previously and it was as a result of an open call for people to apply, and we took in everybody who applied at that stage. Originally, in the rural development programme going back to 2015, we under-provisioned on the liability but we took in everybody who applied, and we have had to increase the provision for it. We envisaged a budget in the region of €56 million for the organic scheme and I believe we are now providing in the region of €66 million because we took in everybody who applied.

It is one of those sectors where there is an insatiable demand at a consumer level for organic products, both domestically and internationally. The Deputy would be familiar with one of the leading dairy organic companies in her neck of the woods-----