Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner and his team. I have a few questions on which the Commissioner might have figures. Am I correct in saying that the farmers get one part of the CAP budget and that airlines and shipping companies get a lot of the rest?

Am I correct in saying that were the €12 billion to be taken out of the slice of the cake, it would result in a figure of approximately €100 million in Ireland's case? That is what I was looking at in the figures for different countries.

I saw in the Irish Farmers' Journalthat there was a leak about the new CAP. It was alleged, in respect of front-loading, that there would be an option for the member state.

Will active farming be done by the member state? At the end of the day, will the Commissioner and the EU decide the new CAP? What input will member states have into it?

With regard to penalties, which the Commissioner has tried to address, could a system be introduced whereby an inspector could give a farmer a yellow card and tell him that he will be back a month later and if everything is not right, it is kaput for him in order that farmers are not afraid of their lives?

For the past 16 years, the EU has had a category called the forgotten farmer for those who missed out on entitlements. The Commissioner and Senator Lombard are correct about the need to get young farmers into the industry. The farmers in this category have ended up with nothing for 16 years because they did not have a certain amount of stock and so on. Before Christmas, the EU said they will now be entitled to payments but they will need a linear cut or whatever to get the money. What incentives will there be for Ireland and other member states to get older farmers to transfer farms? Unfortunately, many are having accidents, Will there be an early retirement scheme or something similar? People were over from the EU before speaking about it.

Due to the recent weather problems, we were looking for money to be front-loaded under GLAS and other schemes? Has the Commissioner any objections? If farmers want to buy fertiliser, meal and so on and they are in trouble financially, could the Exchequer bring the payments forward by six months? Does he have a problem with that?

The EU is being blamed for the new online system here. Many elderly farmers may not have broadband and there is concern about filling the new online system up. As Deputy Healy-Rae pointed out about the suckler herd, we are in trouble. What are the Commissioner's views on this and the future of the dairy sector? The IFA and other farming organisations are represented at the meeting. A big problem is emerging with vulture funds. Mr. Goodman has bought a large farm off a vulture fund, according to the Irish Farmers Journaltoday. There are 2,500 farmers in trouble around the country with vulture funds. Could the Minister ensure low interest loans are made available to them to help them to secure their farms? They are blackened at the moment but many of their farms could be viable if they are given an opportunity.