Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I will give a direct answer to the question. We do not have exact figures for the number of people who will be affected negatively by the changes to the disadvantaged areas scheme. The figure on REPS is much easier to calculate. There are 30,900 people in REPS 4 and they will experience a cut of 10% to their payments under the scheme.

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