Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Crawford for his good wishes. He took the opportunity in other fora, in the constituency and elsewhere, to convey them to me.

As the Deputy knows, 12,675 applications were received from farmers under the FIS by the closing date, 31 October 2007. These applications are being processed up to the level of funding available. Applications received up to 31 October 2007 are being processed first and any funding that remains after they have been processed will be applied to the remaining applications.

As I said in my initial reply, it was outlined in the scheme and the press release accompanying its launch that €79 million was available for it. Some €6 million was available for the sow housing scheme at the time. In the partnership agreement, Towards 2016, a commitment was made to provide €85 million for this investment sector. It also provides for a review of its terms during 2008; this will provide an opportunity to reassess the financial terms of the agreement. It was made clear previously that the farm improvement scheme will not be reopened prior to a review.

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