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

I have not heard from Deputy Collins about the way compensation might be paid. As I stated to others, where there is a way there is a will. We are still searching for the way and we have not heard any detailed proposals from the Deputy on that. We would be very interested to hear about that.

What are the technical issues? They are myriad and are as many as there are applicants awaiting payment, which is the unfortunate reality. We are working through those on a case-by-case basis. Some of them relate to actions associated with individual plots and some concern plots that may have been split. Some of them relate to the correlation between the green, low-carbon agriculture scheme, GLAS, actions and the basic payment application submitted. There are almost as many as there are individual applicants waiting to be paid. The issue is each individual application must be eyeballed and there must be a solution found for each application. If the Deputy has a man in Schull who can sort these out in half an hour, we would be delighted to hear from him or her. There is a very dedicated team in the Department working on this.

I apologise to farmers who are awaiting payment and I appreciate their position. We are working through this as quickly as we can and, as I stated, 84% of farmers have been paid. I understand the position of those still awaiting payment.

See this speech in context