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

-----that 30,000 farmers would be accepted into GLAS on a first come, first served basis, the application process would be chaotic. There would be massive pressure on planners to be the first in and it would be totally unmanageable. Deputy Ó Cuív knows that as a former Minister who has managed schemes like this before. I can never remember 30,000 farmers coming into a scheme in one go, even in REPs. We must leave a sufficient window to allow planners to make plans for their clients in an orderly manner and make sure the application process is properly managed. Otherwise, we will have flawed and rushed plans, people will be disqualified when they should not be and this will lead to appeals. We are trying to have an orderly opening of a five-year scheme, getting as many farmers as we can in tiers 1, 2 and 3. The only way to do so is to be very clear on the opening and closing dates to give people space to get in applications. Then, we will assess them fairly and equally and we will announce who is in and who is out in that process.

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