Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While I have to welcome what the Minister says will come on board in 2019, it should be remembered that this was announced in budget 2018. If I am not mistaken, the Minister made a further announcement at the IFA AGM in January and indicated that it would be established in the autumn. I push this point on the basis that these are the most challenging times for farmers I have ever seen. They face the uncertainty of Brexit, the uncertainty of CAP reform and, most importantly, climate change. As the Minister has seen himself, weather patterns have changed dramatically and that is costing farmers dearly. Any business, but farming in particular, requires financial planning. As such, I urge the Minister to put this in place within a matter of weeks. Farmers need it desperately and there should be no further delay. If another payment announced on budget day did not occur when it was supposed to, there would be uproar in the country. I appeal to the Minister to do everything required to bring this in as quickly as possible.

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