Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The review of the scheme is important and it was to be done and dusted this year. The Minister has clarified that it will now be 2019. Can he clarify if that is 1 January 2019 or if it means it will be completed in the course of next year? The important point is to ensure the existing areas are retained. The Minister mentioned the budget, which was cut to €200 million having originally been €250 million. I acknowledge that he has increased it to €225 million this year, which is welcome. While the scheme is beneficial, it contains certain anomalies. It is an important scheme in my constituency of Laois-Offaly. The criteria at the moment are socio-economic but there are quirks in that which have caused problems. For example, a townland south of Ballacolla around Woodenbridge is surrounded by a mini-version of the Golden Vale, with which the Minister will be familiar, but there is a pocket of farms in the middle of that on wet land due to the presence of a number of rivers, including the Goul and the Erkina, which flood every year for a number of months. I ask the Minister to look at parts of that. Clonterry on the Laois-Offaly border and Garryhinch along the Barrow are other areas which need to be included. This is a crucial scheme. The new criteria consider soil, rainfall, mountainous land and stony land, which is welcome because it will be more scientific than the old townland basis for inclusion. While 60% of a townland may be prosperous, the rest may not be but it will have been left out of the scheme to date.

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