Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. What the Minister has outlined confirms farmers' worst fears, namely, that this is, in effect, REPS light or Mickey Mouse REPS. Does the Minister accept that someone farming in one of these restricted areas, whether on commonage, in an SAC or in an NHA, carries additional responsibilities and, therefore, additional costs due to the restrictions on the manner in which the land can be farmed? Given the average farm size in Ireland, in order to attain the maximum payment of €5,000, such a farmer would have to have a holding of 66 hectares to reach the maximum of €5,000, and many farmers cannot attain this under the current scheme. Will the Minister revisit this issue and consider doubling the payment to €150 per hectare, which would raise the threshold to €8,000 per annum?

Is the ceiling of 10,000 participants absolute? If average payments are less than €5,000, which they obviously will be as it is the maximum, the Minister could finance far more than 10,000 applications.

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