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

For the record and with respect, only one party sold young farmers out, and that was the Deputy's party when it decided to abolish installation aid. We are now trying to fix that problem and re-prioritise that category of farmers. We have worked with Macra na Feirme and all the farming organisations to try to do that. They were celebrating when the CAP deal was done in terms of the package for young farmers. Perhaps the Deputy should check the views of young farmers on that.

On the issue of trying to sort out this cohort of people, whom many thought it was impossible to help given the tight definition of "young farmer" in the regulation, we have found and worked out a way with the Commission to categorise them as a disadvantaged group and, therefore, a group of people to whom we can give assistance through the national reserve. We have done that to the fullest extent we can. People who just missed out on installation aid but who started farming more than five years ago can apply to the national reserve under phase 2 of the application process to get a top-up of their single farm payment up to the national average. For many young farmers who have low payments, that is a very substantial top-up.

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