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

Quite simply, I disagree entirely with the Deputy's analysis. It is not borne out by the facts. The average rate of drawdown across the European Union is 22.68%. Ireland's drawdown is 39.01%. We are way ahead of the posse in terms of our drawdown of the EU element of the rural development programme and across the range of schemes. The Deputy referred to GLAS. More than 50,000 farmers, or almost every second farmer in the country, is a participant in GLAS. It is the flagship scheme. It is a critical part of the rural development programme and of our climate change strategy in conjunction with the BDGP, for example. These are multi-annual schemes. With regard to GLAS, I am currently waiting for thousands of farmers to submit nutrient management plans in order that we can pay them this year. However, we are still contractually committed to paying them for five years and the budgetary commitment-----

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