Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has given me a very disappointing answer. Last year, which was not quite as bad as this year, the time was extended by two weeks. It is very disappointing to hear that the same thing will not be done this year. This decision will cause severe hardship. The tanks are full. Cattle are back in sheds again. There is nowhere to put the slurry. That will cause greater pollution over the next month, two months or three months. I am extremely disappointed. I ask the Minister of State to talk to the senior Minister to see whether he might take another look at this decision, which will cause severe hardship.

I would like to know whether the Minister, Deputy Creed, will attend next week's meeting of the Council of Ministers. He needs to do so to support tillage farmers. I understand the meeting in question will take place in Brussels next Wednesday.

I would like to mention another issue in this context. The moneys which are due to farmers should be paid straightaway. People who apply for various schemes, such as the area aid scheme, the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, the area of natural constraint scheme and the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, sometimes do not discover there are problems with their applications until the time comes for payment. The Minister of State and I, as rural Deputies, have often been contacted by farmers who want to know why they have not been paid. It is only then that they discover there are problems. In fairness to farmers, they should be told about such issues when they make their applications and not three, four or five months later when payments are due to be made. There can be further delays of five, six or seven months in such circumstances. This is the only income that many farmers have. I appeal to the Minister of State to try to ensure the officials in the Department notify farmers when issues or problems arise. Farmers need to be informed of difficulties so that they have a chance to deal with these issues.

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