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

To be fair, I cannot proceed on the basis of the back of an envelope, nor can I proceed in breach of EU regulations.

The first hurdle I have to clear, and I do not want to underestimate the challenge we face, is to get EU approval to include this category. If we secure them as an approved category, eligible to draw from the reserve, we have to consider how we would create a reserve that would be able to meet the requirements to give all eligible applicants the benefit of a national average payment from the reserve. They are not easy challenges to overcome but the first one that must be cleared is the one at EU level.

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