Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be having a meeting with the team in my Department shortly for a full update on all of the work I have asked them to do and to progress. The same team has been working on rolling out all of the various new schemes which are opening week-on-week. I have sought to give as much certainty as possible to those farmers in the forgotten farmer category that this will happen but I have also made it clear that it will take time and that it cannot happen quickly. It will be a number of more months but I want to progress it as quickly as I can. I will be meeting my team shortly to sit down and go through exactly how far they have come and how we can step it out in the best timeframe possible. That is being done alongside the various schemes being rolled out and the significant pressure there is this year.

I can give certainty to the forgotten farmers that this is being dealt with and that we are committed to dealing with it. It is something that has been in play for 15 years but it will take a bit more time to do it. I will come back with further clarification on that once I have sat down with the team again to review the work that has been carried out. A lot of work has been required to pull it all together and to assess the different profiles of farmers who are affected. I will give as much clarity at that point on how we can step it out from here.

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