Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I note that the Minister said he had seen the Irish Farmers' Journalthis week. He will have seen how the SBCI clarified in a response to the IFA that it did not see farmers being able to access the loan scheme until March next year at the earliest. That is the first half of next year. We know it is complicated to put a loan scheme together, but it pales in significance to the complexity for businesses of meeting the challenge of Brexit. Surely, it should not have been beyond the Minister to have got everyone together to ensure this tool, which he announced in this year's budget, would be put in place and made available to farmers. Brexit will have taken place by the time some farmers are able to access this fund. Can the Minister clarify whether the report in the Irish Farmers' Journalis correct that it will be after March 2019 before farmers can access the fund?

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