With regard to the REP scheme, I condemn the Government for taking €50 million out of its budget for 2002 as part of the cutbacks in agriculture. Once again, this proves that the Minister cannot argue our case at the Cabinet table. Instead of cutbacks at this time, rates of payment should be increased, especially for smaller farmers. The failure of the Minister to utilise the full REPS allocation in the Estimate for his Department is a clear indication that the national development plan target of 70,000 farmers in the scheme is unattainable. The current number of farmers participating is 15,000 less than projected, clearly demonstrating that the Government has failed to meet its own targets. I urge the Minister to reduce the level of bureaucracy and increase the payment rates by 50% in the scheme which is of great benefit in the implementation of the EU agri-environment programme. It is essential that more farmers are encouraged to join. The main reason this is not happening is that the present format of the scheme is no longer attractive. Payment rates are far too low, particularly for farms of less than 50 acres. The upper limit of 100 acres per farm is unduly restrictive, the scheme is overly bureaucratic and complex and penalties are too high.