Mr. Hugh Farrell:

The ACRES payment is €6,000. In some cases it depends on examination of the area and its vegetation. It can vary. Something else involved in these ecoschemes is organic farming. Many farmers are going into organic and they are being encouraged to do so. This automatically reduces their ACRES payment if there is an overlap. We do not think this is consistent because there are so many variables in the ACRES scheme while we know what is happening with organics. We should not be crucified on this point.

I will go back to SAC payments. Previously everyone got so much money for a SAC for five years. All of sudden it had no value. I have visited farmers in various parts of the country where SAC land was flooded. It cannot be farmed and nothing can be done with it. This land has no value. The scheme has a short lifespan whereas there should be continuous payments if the land is taken and designated. Something we need to look at is a long-term payment and not a happy payment to get people out the door and close the gap. We need to look at this. This is where we need to go in this regard.

There is a big issue with the stamp and we hope to get it resolved. It stopped a lot of people from applying. They were led to believe that if they applied for the scheme, they would not qualify for the pension. They had to decide which to opt for and they suffered in the short term. We need someone to look at an emergency fund for applications on the spot. We are in a year of dire straits and we have never been more in need of it.