Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be fair, the Minister has been very strong in this area. I take this opportunity to acknowledge that. All money that is allocated to Westmeath will be spent. I can confirm that. I welcome that the Minister will come back to clarify the position, but I spoke to the official in Westmeath who runs the scheme. It does say that even though they are reducing their requirements for herd numbers, it is recommended that there is a second parcel of land, which must be a minimum of 1 ha. It is a recommendation, not a requirement. As a result, it is a grey area. If the Minister could bring clarity to that I would welcome it.

There is the fact that the criteria changed when the Minister announced the new funding. Is the Minister asking the councils to go out and open that up again? I ask because some councils, such as that in Westmeath, had their lists ready. Clearly, however, they would have excluded some people before the criteria changed. Is there now a requirement to include those criteria?

While I did mention a specific case in Westmeath where one landowner prevented work from going ahead, this is something that could happen across the country. There is a requirement that all people who would benefit must sign the form. If someone refuses to sign the form, that puts other people at a disadvantage. This is something the Minister needs to look at in terms of changing the criteria. It is not fair that one landowner can hold up work that would be to the benefit of multiple landowners.

See this speech in context