Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

It seems the officials are getting slightly hung up on the minutiae of requirements in regard to the terminology of the application forms and so on. I have received information to the effect that there are queries on such matters as inheritance rights or that forms were not completed correctly in respect of those farmers who have not received their cheques. The extent of the information required is significant. One wonders whether it is necessary to go to the nth degree in this way.

At the same time, however, the Minister has done an excellent job on her commitment to deliver on 1 December. More than 80% of farmers have received their payment and we only hear about the hard cases. We wish the Minister well at the WTO talks.