Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Some €48 million is being paid in farmers' pensions in 2009 and €9 million will be paid in installation aid grants. The overall funding for the disadvantaged area scheme will be reduced by 14% to €220 million in 2009. The Minister has targeted this reduced funding to ensure that 67,000 of the 102,000 participants do not experience any reduction in their payments. There will also be no reduction in payments on holdings of up to 34 hectares, a conscious decision taken by the Minister to protect the smaller scale farmers.

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