Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be very short; I appreciate the opportunity to get in. I thank the Minister for his reply. Following on the point made there, I ask the Minister to clarify the flexibility for those farmers who, as I mentioned earlier, might be in financial difficulty. Surely the bank would be very happy to see them coming to make an application for this scheme, which might allow them to restructure debt. When the Minister mentions flexibility, does he mean one might be able to restructure more expensive debt with this lower interest rate?

In recent years it has been very difficult for farmers, particularly beef and tillage farmers, working off significant merchant credit. They build up the bill all year and the big cheque at the end of the year is supposed to clear it. Unfortunately, there have been a few years where the cheque has been insufficient, resulting in the debt rolling on at a high level. Will this scheme also cover that merchant debt?

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