Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I live on a farm and I understand farming. The scheme in place in my Department ceased in 2010 and 42 farmers are getting funding under it. The funding available for heritage purposes is not unlimited. We are trying to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and what we want to achieve is to strike a balance between protecting the environment and allowing farmers to farm. The farmers are custodians of the countryside and carry out great work in protecting our environment but we must work together on this.

With regard to the rural development scheme, we should deal with the issues through co-funding, which is to the appropriate mechanism. Through the rural development plan, we can deal with these issues. In the GLAS and GLAS plus schemes, farmers who have been designated will get priority.

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