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

The Deputy has said we need something now. We secured €25 million extra for areas of natural constraint in the 2018 budget. We face choices in how that will be allocated. I await approval from the European Union on the decision as to where ANC fits in the rural development programme.

We took a decision not to spread that thinly across everybody but to focus on those with the highest level of disadvantage. I believe that is the right thing to do in that there is a little for everybody but it is focused on giving higher payments to those with the most disadvantaged lands. That is one point.

I take the Deputy's point about organic type production systems. There is a premium payable for organic beef through the Good Herdsmen operation. In the context of producer organisations, the Department could support producer organisations which market products specifically on the basis of their provenance. We have a number of groups in the hill sheep area in particular and I am sure it could happen on the beef side as well.

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