Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 4, line 8, after "payment" to insert "or instalments".

I tabled this amendment because under the proposed legislation as it currently stands, a farmer must make a lump sum payment. In some circumstances, it will be extremely difficult for farmers to do so. I believe a mechanism and facility should be put in place, especially when substantial amounts of money are outstanding, to enable farmers to pay by instalments. They could do so at the end of the year on receipt of their single farm payment. As the Minister of State is aware, the average single farm payment amount is minuscule and most farmers receive €5,000 or less. In some cases, one payment would not be adequate to meet the demands placed on them by the Land Bill.

Given that the Government has left such a short window of opportunity for farmers to proceed with this mechanism, it is important to encourage as many as possible to buy out their annuities and clear the decks. The cost to the Department of continuing to pursue farmers in respect of this issue by trying to get repayments would be significant. The amount of money involved in annuities is relatively small in the overall context of the Government's budget. I believe the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has called it a fraction of a fraction. Hence, we should try to facilitate as many people as possible to choose this route and the sensible approach is to permit them to pay by instalments.

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