Mr. Janusz Wojciechowski:

I thank the Deputy for this questions. In this report, our evaluation of the Irish RDP is positive. We have a big problem with the delay in the RDPs but in Ireland the progress of absorption is among the best in the EU. Perhaps more information about our evaluation of Ireland will be found in the next report about young farmers. We have two big problems in the EU - one is the reduction in the number of farms and the second is the reduction in the land available for farming.

In Ireland, fortunately, the situation is better; it is not the same as in the rest of Europe. We can observe positive results of the Common Agricultural Policy in Ireland. The country has good arguments for the spending of money and it is generally okay. There was no objection to the Irish rural development programme which had been designed especially for Irish farmers. Perhaps there might be more about it in the next report.