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

It is a complex scheme to administer and I take the point the Deputy is making. One of the objectives the Commissioner has set for himself in the context of the CAP post-2020 is greater simplification. We could all do with revisiting and embracing that objective.

I make the point that the Commission carried out a public consultation process which showed that there was considerable public support for the Common Agricultural Policy and providing an adequate budget for it. However, it was linked with the fact that the Commission wantd farmers to meet greater ambition in respect of sustainability of the environment. That is our flagship scheme in this area. Simplification will be a key objective in the revision of schemes. Payments will have to reflect the outcomes farmers are achieving. I take the point made. We are working flat out, as we receive the necessary information from individual farmers, to pay them as quickly as possible. However, there is a cohort from whom we are awaiting information.

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