Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Since 2000 I have invested in 5,000 applications under the dairy hygiene scheme as well as almost 12,000 under the farm improvement scheme. Overall, there are almost 60,000 applications and people to be supported. Deputy Creed likes to remind me of my job so I shall remind him of what his crowd did in April 1995. I have 60,000 applications to deal with. His party in government had control of the farmyard pollution scheme, which closed at 17,000. That means there is an investment in respect of 60,000 on one side and 17,000 on the other. We need to look at the issues as they exist. We had a massive influx of applications to this scheme over five days.

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