Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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5. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the proposed rural development plan submitted to Brussels; if the plan may be amended; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35431/14]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I had the opportunity during the summer to read the rural development plan submitted by the Minister to Brussels. I understand the next step in the process is that the European Commission will send its observations back to the Minister. Has he received those observations at this stage and, if so, will he publish them or undertake to do so when they are received? The public and Opposition spokespersons should have knowledge and sight of those observations.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I have not yet received the EU's observations on the rural development plan. Our applications were required to be submitted by 22 July and we managed to get them in by 3 July or thereabouts. They are being considered by the Commission at present and we are due to receive from it a formal observation on the draft RDP on 3 October. Thereafter, depending on the Commission's concerns, comments and, potentially, proposed amendments, we will have to enter into a process of consultation with it.

It would be appropriate at that point to have a conversation with Opposition spokespersons, perhaps in committee. I certainly will have nothing to hide at that stage. It would be helpful in identifying and dealing quickly with any issues that require clarification or any changes that should be made. After that we can go back to the Commission seeking formal approval to allow us to open up all the schemes we want to get up and running and which farmers are demanding, including the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS. Once we receive the Commission's response to the draft plan, the Deputy will find I am more than open to discussing it with him and other colleagues. The Oireachtas committee might be the best place to do it.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Minister still confident that this whole process can be completed by the end of the year - namely, receiving the observation back from the Commission and completing whatever negotiations are required?

In regard to the GLAS, is it the case that there will be no prepayments? In other words, if payments are made in 2015, will it only be possible to pay farmers for the part of 2015 for which they are in the scheme? If, for example, the scheme opens on 1 September, will the Minister be able to pay them 75% of what is due in September, October, November and December?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I will have to clarify it, but that is my understanding of how it will work.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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That was what I was informed by the Minister's officials, but I would like it on the record. There is some loose talk that there might be massive payments under the GLAS which would apply from the beginning of the year or even the day of application. The Minister is saying today that everybody will be admitted into the scheme, in one tranche, at the same time and the clock will start on that day. Am I correct, then, in saying that if payment is made in December, it will be 75% of the proportion of the year that one is actually in the scheme?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is important to note that we cannot legally pay a farmer for a time period in which he or she is not in the scheme. The answer to the Deputy's first question is "Yes"; I am confident we can get this done by the end of the year. In fact, I hope we can get it done before the end of November, so that we can open up the GLAS in December and farmers will have the four to five-month period which everybody agrees is necessary, because of the numbers involved in the scheme, to get their applications in. We will then need a couple of months to assess those applications. If we get them in by May or June of next year, it will be September before we can decide on the 25,000 to 30,000 farmers who will be accepted into the scheme. Once they are accepted, participants will receive payments from that point onward. If it is October, November and December of next year, then payment will be on the basis of those three months in 2015.

I assure the Deputy that we want to get payments out as quickly as we can, but there is a process that must be gone through.

As I said earlier, if I accepted 6,000 or 7,000 farmers into GLAS, it could be done much more quickly and they would be in far earlier but that is not what farm bodies wanted. The demand from all stakeholders was that they wanted as many farmers in as possible in the first tranche of GLAS and we are trying to accommodate that but it will take a bit of time.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Realistically, it is not because the Minister does not have the money. Allowing for what the Minister said in terms of October, November and December, that works out at a total payout of €30 million to 30,000 farmers. It is approximately €1,000 apiece. Three quarters of a quarter works out a less than one fifth so we will round it up to €1,000 to each farmer, totalling €30 million. That is the figure. I have heard demands for €200 million but I keep saying it is not possible for the Minister to pay that out because the rules do not allow it.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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For what its worth, I appreciate the Deputy's help on this because we need to be realistic with farmers in terms of what is possible. I am trying to deliver GLAS as quickly as I can but there will be teething problems opening a scheme which accepts 25,000 to 30,000 in the first tranche. There will be problems and issues which will need clarification. Some farmers will get paid early, certainly before the end of next year, but other farmers will have to clarify issues, paperwork and so on which will spill over into January. In my estimation, most of the payments next year for the first tranche of GLAS will happen in the November, December, January and February period, which will span two financial years.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Even if everybody got paid by Christmas, it would still be €30 million.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Yes, it would be that kind of figure. I do not want to commit to hard and fast figures because that would be wrong but given the indications we are getting, I suspect it will not be a million miles away from that.