Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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We will keep her lit. I thank the Senator. He and I were members of this committee previously. We soldiered together, so I look forward to working with him in the term ahead.

Simplification has probably been the most overused and misused word in previous schemes. The truth is we talked about simplification and then it seemed every new scheme we got was more complex than the last. On the simplification package, and there was a headline in the paper this week stating that I was having a go at the Commission in Brussels, I just clearly outlined in Europe that what is in the simplification package will not really benefit farmers much. There is stuff there for small farmers but, by EU averages, we do not have very many small farms or very many large farms. We have that in-the-middle, 30 ha, average-sized farm, or a little more than that. That is the context for the measures on simplification. Sometimes, simplification is proposed from Brussels that inadvertently leads to more complex knock-on activity. I am determined. I am a farmer. I understand where the issue is. I am determined that we deliver real simplification that actually matters and makes life easier for farmers, and do that in a more streamlined way. I cannot be any clearer that the dedicated budget for Pillar 2 is a top priority for us. I continue to work on that.

I again reassure the Senator, as I have other members, that it is an absolute top priority that the solutions being put in place now for ACRES mean the issues occurring on the scale they have been will not reoccur, and that these problems will be fixed once and for all. It is the least we can promise farmers. I continue to see that through.

I share the sentiment that complacency is coming in regarding the derogation. I got the impression that what the Senator said was directed at me in Government. I guarantee it is not-----