Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I accept the Minister's bona fides. He is a farmer. I am a businessman. No one could operate in this manner, with farmers still waiting for payments from 2023 and hearing every excuse in the world. A man expected to get €5,000 of a corrective payment and he got €300. As I said, a dodgy salesman or a man at a fair who would spit in your hand would do better than that. In this day and age, this is shocking. I accept the Minister's bona fides but I want to know how many farmers are still waiting under each stream of ACRES and how many farmers are suffering through Department errors. This is not acceptable. What concrete steps is the Department taking? The Minister said he has made efforts but what kind of a lethargic or inept mindset got into the Department?

I respect the Department officials and have done for decades. I have met them and dealt with them. In this day and age, it is just not good enough to blame IT and blame anything he likes. Farmers entered into these schemes in good faith and where they are compliant and honour the terms of the scheme, they must be paid. They have contractors to pay. They have feed suppliers to pay. They have families to raise and kids to put into education. No other sector would put up this.

The Department issued a statement some months ago - I heard it myself - that there were delays with payments again and the new deadline would not be met due to lack of staff. If the Department officials were told they would not get paid next Thursday, or if that statement was made in any Department, that would not last for long. The farmers need fair play here. Fair play is fine play for me and it is not happening for the farmers of Ireland.

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