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

On the latter point, designation primarily has to do with the biophysical criteria. The Deputy asked whether we are looking for an extension. I am not at this stage contemplating a further extension. The obligation is to have this finalised so that, when farmers make their application for the 2019 basic payment scheme, this is all concluded.

The Deputy made a point about payment for constraint, which is very important. As he will be aware, rather than taking a scatter-gun approach when we had an additional €25 million to allocate in this year's budget, we made a focused application our priority in order that those who have the most constraint will benefit the most from it.

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