Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I thank the Minister for her reply. The timelines are as we anticipated and I welcome the establishment of the consultative committee. I refer the Minister to a speech given by Commissioner Fischer Boel in Paris last month. She referred to the Health Check, the strengthening of competitiveness, supporting rural society and so on. It was all very aspirational in its aims. Farmers are worried about the issues of cross-compliance and modulation under the single payment scheme and, particularly, whether the Commission will place upper or lower limits on payments to them under the scheme in the context of the Health Check. They are worried about the nature of cross compliance and the stringent controls under which they are placed. Has the Government defined a clear negotiating position on those issues because farmers have strong views on them?

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