Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

I am heartened to hear the Minister will review this matter. The promise of a certain sum of money, to which my question refers, is not the only one farmers were given that was subsequently withdrawn. Many farmers made their financial plans based on the promises made but now find themselves in a very bad place. It was not the hard-working small farmers who caused the economic problems in this country, yet they seem to be punished all the time for it.

With regard to the commonage framework plans, there has been a fair amount of destocking of land already. Some might argue destocking contributed to the recent upland fires. Is it possible to consider the possibility of returning stock to the affected lands? There are questions asked over whether the land could be better managed by farmers if the destocking rule were relaxed. Are other payments promised to and expected by farmers to be reduced?

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