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

I draw the attention of the Deputy to the point I made earlier to Deputy Cahill in the context of applications for the basic payment scheme. There have been 122,000 applications, not taking into account the substantial number of farmers who, for one reason or another, do not make any application or do not have any entitlement to payments.

In respect of those employed in primary agriculture, it comes down to what they report to the CSO census. Many part-time farmers contribute significantly to the rural economy and agricultural output. However, if they report in the labour force survey that they are a construction worker, a teacher and so on, that is listed as their main employment despite the fact that they make an important contribution to the rural economy in terms of their participation in farming. We track all of these issues and they are an important source of data.

The numbers need to be processed properly in order to get an accurate picture. The number of basic payment applications is a further piece of information which should be appropriately considered. It is a question of recognising that those who are part-time farmers, for one reason or another, make a significant contribution.

See this speech in context