Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is an issue that requires European Commission approval. That is not easily available based on my conversations with the Commission. There is a mid-term review of the CAP coming up, however, and we will continue to explore the possibility of resolving the matter for the farmers affected.

Even if we were permitted to do as proposed, it would then be a question of what is in the reserve. If I do not use my entitlements for two years, they are lost by me and enter the reserve. If I lease my entitlements to the Deputy, there is a claw-back into the reserve from the lease of some entitlements. The problem with that approach is that if I make an allocation, I have no choice but to make an allocation to every individual applicant that is the equivalent of the national average. That process, of clawing back or entitlement surrender, would not nearly be sufficient to deal with the 3,900 individuals. The alternative would be to make a linear cut across every farmer's entitlements. To ensure I could deal with the 3,900 through entitlements, I would have to cut every payment by the required percentage to bring the value up to the required level. The Deputy might have a different view if this were to happen. It is a complicated area but we are committed to exploring it as far as we can with the Commission.

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