Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is a genius with figures. Obviously, a large number of the farmers fall into the category with the smallest number of animals. Let me give the Minister an example. There are 39,605 farmers in the nought to ten suckler cow range. There are 1,978 farmers who have between 41 and 50 animals. If every one of them was to apply - some 72% have applied - they would still not outweigh the 39,605 farmers with small herds. The manipulation of the percentages by the Minister is shameful. The reality is that in the case of those with more than 20 cows the average application rate is 68% to 70%. For smaller herdowners, the figure is 30%. For the Minister to say he is looking after small farmers is a blatant untruth. What does he intend to do to make the scheme attractive for small farmers? Will he confirm that the biggest of big farmers will receive the extra payment on the first ten cows just as the small farmer will?

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