Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No. There is just under €200 million in DAS payments due and if we start paying farmers in advance, we would have to consider how much to give them and who would get the advance payment. The payment will be made in September and there should be a bridging banking and credit facility available to farmers until then. I do not see why that cannot work. This is in preference to asking the Department to essentially become a banking facility. We must pay for that, and farmers will pay for it as the funding will come from the same budget. It is not like I have a lump sum that I can give out whenever I want. A significant element of DAS payments are matching funds coming from the EU. Although I can consider the issue, I do not want to raise expectations in that regard.