Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

I wish to apologise for Deputy Colreavy who is unable to attend the House. I was given a crash course in agricultural policy at 9 o'clock this morning. The Minister has covered some of the issues in reply to the first question. One of the Deputy's roles as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is to ensure that as many people who want to farm land are able to do so. The agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, was an important aspect in that regard. It gave farmers additional income to enable them to have a livelihood from farming. It is unfortunate the scheme is not going ahead. The Minister said in his reply to the first question that he hopes to re-open it in September and that it will depend on discussions with the Minister for Finance. What discussions has he had with the Minister for Finance on this and how are they progressing? When does he envisage a decision will be made on it? If he is talking about re-opening the scheme in September for receipt of applications, when does he envisage he will announce a new scheme?

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