Ciarán Cannon (Progressive Democrats)

I ask the Leader once again, if I can beg his patience, to liaise with the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Mary Coughlan, for two reasons. First, I wish to congratulate her on her recent success in carrying out in-depth negotiations with the European Commissioner in the matter of speedy transfer of rural environment protection scheme payments to those farmers on REPS 2 and 3. Those negotiations have been concluded and I understand the payments are being processed as we speak. Approximately 6,000 farmers will receive their payments by post soon.

I also ask that the Leader ask the Minister to carry on in this vein and secure a similar commitment for those farmers in the REP 4 scheme. There has been a suggestion that their payments may be lumped in with the end of year single farm support payment. The farmers in REPS 4 will face a cash flow crisis if they receive all their off-farm income in one single payment at the end of the year. I ask the Leader to ensure the negotiations continue to allow two separate payments to occur during the calendar year.