Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I was being facetious when I spoke earlier, although some people will chance their arm like anybody else. There are people who have particular reasons for not applying, including widows and so on, and it may be considered within the force majeure process, perhaps under the national reserve. I am trying not to go beyond the 3% threshold because that means that whoever gets their entitlements will have to give back to the national reserve a certain amount of entitlements, and none of us would like to face the farming fraternity if that were the case. Having said that, there are particular hardship cases and we try to do our utmost, on an individual basis, to determine if something can be done for them. There are those who just never bothered to apply. They may have had their own reasons for that. We may have a situation where some people will not take up their entitlements. They will revert back in that case.

We are restricted by the article and the terms and conditions but if the Deputy is aware of a particular case involving hardship, we will try to support those people if it is at all possible. I cannot guarantee anything because the person had to be in the scheme at the time of the reference years. We went back to the 1980s on the basis of destocking, particularly on the sheep side of which the Deputy will be aware. We have looked at permutations and the division by one, two and three as to what can be done, but if the Deputy wants a particular case examined or if he has further information, we will try to facilitate those who are suffering hardship.

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