Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the words of my colleague, Senator Quinn, about the closure of shops in small towns and villages. I have raised this matter in the House on several occasions. The issue of rates is one of the many problems being encountered by small businesses. I have made that point previously here. We need to look at all of the ideas that have been proposed. When we walk through towns and villages, including some of our larger towns, we see that many of the shops that were on the main streets some years ago have closed down because of a lack of business and trade. The initiative that has been mentioned is a good one and I look forward to seeing it moved further.

I welcome this morning's announcement by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, of the opening of the second tranche of the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme. As most farmers out there and everybody here will know, the first tranche of the scheme will close on 22 May. Planners are very busy doing work for farmers. Indeed, there was a big rush. Up to 25,000 farmers will enter that scheme. It is good news that the second tranche will open in the autumn. Those schemes will run for five years and payments of up to €7,000 will be made to each farmer. This is great news. It is something that has been sought for the past 12 or 18 months. It is very good news for commonage farmers, in particular, because they have suffered greatly in recent years because of destocking and everything else. They have seen their payments diluted in the commonage areas. This is good news for them too.