Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his presentation. I have had reservations about CAP since it has been implemented. I was hoping to have a more equitable and fairer distribution of payments in particular, to ensure that the weaker and the smaller farmer survives. The Minister is aware of my position regarding the cap on funding. I have held the position since the day I came to the House that it was grotesque for anyone to get over €100,000 in payments and that this was unjustifiable. I cannot for the life of me understand it. I can understand that the British and other larger beneficiaries would try to hang onto this but I believe it is wrong. A sum of €100,000 is more than enough for anyone involved in the enterprise.

The presentation refers to the positions of the Commission, Council and Parliament. It also refers to the flat rate, the tunnel option for the Parliament and partial convergence, and that things will fall down somewhere between partial convergence and the Commission. Can the Minister elaborate on that? It was mentioned that there are minimum and maximum options. Do they refer to a flat rate of payment?

The Minister also said he hoped to have things tied down by the end of June. That would be very dependent on where parliamentarians from other countries stand. What is the Minister's sense of the situation? Can he give us an indication of Germany's position? That could be fairly influential.

The Minister mentioned small farms. Do they comprise fewer than 1,000 acres?