Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will add the two of them together. It is double what it was. It was €1,000 and now it is €2,000, but if one adds the money for clearing it to the money for replanting it, and includes the new money, which is up to €5,000 a hectare, one could actually be talking about €10,000 per hectare to the farmers who are affected, which is a considerable payment. It is much better than it was. I would be the first person to come before the Deputy to admit, going back to 2013 when the whole problem started, that if we could turn the clock back, we would 100% do things differently. Were there mistakes, delays and different things that happened? One hundred per cent there were, but I would like to think that now it is positive. Now it is the case that there is an awful lot of money for people who have not come forward when they do come forward. I think €3.4 million was paid out in the past five or six months. We are addressing the problem now in a very proactive way.