Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the response. Last December, farmers were waiting for a payment of up to €4,500 which they had factored into their financial year last year and their income plans for Christmas. It was one thing to be embarrassed that it was not paid then, but the Minister is still embarrassed in May with over 4,000 farmers continuing to wait for payments. It is a political failure to allocate sufficient resources to deal with the issue and to ensure that farmers were not left in the lurch, which is what has happened. That is down to how it was handled by the Minister and the Department.

In the coming year and the current budget, €214 million is allocated for GLAS. There was a commitment that when the scheme was up and running at the maximum of 50,000, there would be a €250 million per year spend. What the Minister has in the budget for this year's payments is €36 million less than was initially indicated would be required. That is the Minister stoking up a situation where there will be insufficient funds to pay all of those who will be expecting payments at the back end of this year. Can the Minister comment on that? It behoves him, considering what happened last year, to make every effort and adopt every measure to ensure a similar scenario does not emerge at the end of this year. First and foremost, those who are still awaiting payment should be paid promptly and as a matter of priority. Efforts to do that must be made by the Minister.

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