Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

That concession was sought and granted by the Minister and the departmental officials after protracted and long negotiations with the European Commission. The Minister, Deputy Coughlan, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, and I have listened to the concerns outlined by various groups. We had meetings with senior officials from the companies outlining and detailing certain matters. We responded to queries from a number of groups and individual farmers concerned about single payment entitlements, in particular.

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