Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will see what exact data I can get for the Deputy, but I have given quite a lot of detail on the number of farmers who are not eligible at the moment but who have applied. I will try to get more detail, but the Deputy will struggle to find any other country in the European Union that is paying out the percentages that we are paying to farmers this week. All of the farmers who are eligible for payments are receiving them this week. We are early on this and we are making as many payments as possible, but there are complications with many applications and we will work through them and try to get them sorted as quickly as we can. There will be two payments made each week from now on so that we can finalise as many payments as possible before the end of the year. The Deputy knows that is perfectly normal. In fact, we are probably ahead of schedule.

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