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

In 2015, when GLAS came out, we were able to accept 50,000 farmers and we had a budget for that. We were told everyone would have to pay more carbon tax over a number of years. I think it is €623 million we take in as a Government and I heard the great Minister, Deputy Ryan, shout everywhere that the more carbon tax we pay, the more that will come back to farmers. How come we can still only take 50,000 farmers into every scheme, as Deputy Flaherty pointed out, when we are getting an extra €113 million in carbon tax? All farmers were told by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, that if they sucked up to this carbon tax, there would be no problem taking in farmers under the ACRES scheme. The Minister is now saying we can only take in 4,000 more, which would bring the total to 50,000. In 2015, we were able to take in 50,000. We were able to take in more under REPS before. We have more money in the country and the Minister is now saying we cannot take the approximately 9,500 who applied. How does that add up? We have €113 million more. Is it that there is less money in agriculture now? What is the problem, when all these things have been said to suck farmers in, especially by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, about this carbon tax?