Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I take the opportunity to wish the Minister and the Minister of State well in their Department. There is no doubt that agriculture has been at the forefront of society. It is one of our great indigenous industries and there are challenges ahead. I also wish Deputies Colreavy and Pringle well in their respective roles.

I thank the Minister for his reply on the AEOS. Provision was made in the budgetary process and in December's budget for the maximum rate of €5,000 and eligibility for 10,000 applicants. In the official briefing documents received by the Minister from the Department on the structures and so forth, it was clearly stated that in December 2010, the previous Minister announced that the scheme would reopen in 2011 with a maximum payment rate of €5,000 per farmer for up to 10,000 applicants. The Department's press release stated that the scheme would open in broad terms, as was announced in 2010. Therefore, we have difficulty accepting the reasons, notwithstanding the various challenges that exist. Provision was made for the full scheme to go ahead in 2011 and we have difficulty in accepting the reasons the drastic cuts were made to the AEOS scheme. Why did the current Minister not honour the commitments given by the Minister at the time?

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