Mr. Tadhg Buckley:

I want to put another perspective on statements around payments. It is not that we are looking for more money. In the 1990s, 52% of the European budget was allocated to CAP, but that figure is less than 30% today. In the 2000-06 programme for Government - 20 years ago - some €1.9 billion was set aside for the rural environment protection scheme, REPS. Some €15 billion was set aside for ACRES by this Government. It was lauded and the Government told us it was the largest ever. It was not. Twenty years ago the average payment on REPS was €6,350. Today, 20 years later, the equivalent figure for ACRES is €6,000. We are not looking for more money for farmers. We are looking to try to make sure the support for farmers is maintained. That is a key difference. The issue here is that the amount of money going towards farming has reduced massively in real terms. We are speaking about farm assist and I can guarantee that every one of my colleagues agrees that it would be great if we did not have to talk about farm assist. Professor Thia Hennessy of UCC did a study in 2013 and found that for every €1 that was put into beef farming, there was an economic output of €4.28. It is important to have that context as well. It is not that we are looking for more money; we are only trying to make sure farmers are supported. I would not be dismissive at all of environmental payments; I would be the opposite. Regarding the disregard from environmental payments, it is to encourage farmers to stay in them and to participate in them. I wanted to clarify that.