Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Earlier I asked the Minister to lay out a timeline for when farmers could expect to receive payments under the scheme.

Is funding in place to pay it this year? Does the Minister envisage having that fund or ensuring that farmers receive cheques in quarter three or four of this year? I understand consultation is ongoing and that much of the next number of weeks will be focused on that but the Minister will have all the information and consultation he needs finished by August. Surely then a timeline must be set out regarding when those payments will be issued.

I understand that the submission in April referred to by the Minister set out one of the conditions as being the application of extensive production methods. What was meant by that? Does it mean that the smaller-scale farmer will go away? What was intended by that?

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