Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Minister of State is saying. It is of little comfort. The funny thing about it is I have been to agriculture appeals with these people and the people who do the appeal do everything manually. They do not do it on computers. They take their notes manually. It it important we realise we are dealing with human beings: small farmers, who may be elderly and some of whom are bachelors living on their own. They have very little income. There is a way around this and that is to review how we can bring these farmers back into the net. The penalty should not be 100%. I can make a mistake by not ticking a box but does it mean I do not get paid for five years? If we think about it, it is not fair or rational and we have to find a solution for it for the few farmers who are affected by it. Especially on the west coast, down along Kerry and up towards Donegal, there are farmers along that area because the ANC was designed to help these farmers in the terrain they live in.

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