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

Will the Minister confirm that the funding provided by Europe will be of the magnitude spoken about? I accept that the Exchequer funding issue is still up in the air. On Exchequer funding and the Minister's ability to get this money for the dairy sector, the sheep sector is also under huge pressure. The grassland scheme has been withdrawn from that sector. Perhaps the Minister, when seeking funding for the dairy sector, will also seek funding for a direct payment scheme for sheep farmers, which, as he will be aware, is being sought on behalf of that sector by the farming organisations such as the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association and the Irish Farmers' Association. Will the Minister ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for an equivalent amount of money to be paid on a pro ratabasis to sheep farmers?

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