Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There was significant engagement with farm representative organisations on the issue and the challenge. At my request, the Department also carried out new analysis based on records available in 2021 to establish the most up-to-date position regarding the cohort of farmers who were affected. The analysis shows that approximately 3,500 farmers would meet the basic definition of forgotten farmer.

The challenge in terms of rolling this out was the fact we were under significant pressure to develop an entirely new IT system to operate the new CAP programme, which I wanted to make sure we got right, and that we deliver schemes that are fair to farmers of all types and in all parts of the country in order that they have significant funding to underpin family farm incomes as well. It has always been a priority for me to make sure we deliver on it. It is a legacy issue. The first point is that I want to make sure there are no new legacy issues created through this CAP, which I think is the case, but now I want to address this legacy issue in the coming months.

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