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

I am giving the Deputy an answer, so he should listen. This is about public money being drawn down on land that was not eligible. We can see it is not eligible because of the accuracy of maps. The European Commission is insisting on asking for its money back plus penalties. For countries that cannot do that, it is applying very significant fines. I am trying to ensure we minimise the exposure of Irish agriculture as a whole and that we try to treat individual farms as fairly as we can through an appeals system and through giving the benefit of the doubt to farmers when it is reasonable to do so.

I do not have exact figures in terms of individual farm size and the percentages for which the Deputy is asking. I think the Deputy knows I probably do not have that to hand.

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