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

I have already indicated ad nauseamin the Chamber that the record of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on previous rural development programmes and on this one is to spend every penny that has been allocated. As I said in reply to the Deputy's first parliamentary question, the schemes do not lend themselves to 1 January to 31 December absolutist deadlines. That is why we are still paying some rural environment protection scheme, REPS, and agri-environment options scheme, AEOS, payments because they spill over. The proof of that is that farmers are in the process of applying for inclusion under GLAS 3 and their five-year entitlement will run beyond 2020.

The Deputy is correct, and he has asked this question again, that the average payments under GLAS 1 and GLAS 2 is €4,600. The scheme is currently open for new applicants. The ambition is to reach 50,000 new applicants and that will ensure the commitment to spend under the RDP GLAS will be met.

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