Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is a group called the forgotten farmers that the Leader and most people in rural areas will probably know about. It is a group of farmers who established their agricultural holdings before 2008 and were under the age of 40 but did not qualify for Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, aid. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, we as a party and, I am sure, others have done much for the forgotten farmers but we have not got over the line in terms of supporting them, which was promised.

I ask that we write to the Minister again for an update on where we are with that group. There is not a huge number of people in it. They need support. Unfortunately, as they could not qualify for CAP, they are in a more vulnerable position than other farmers. Particularly with the challenges we have now with the environment and so on, those farmers are finding it difficult to survive. I acknowledge the Minister and the Government have done quite a lot of work on this, but it would be nice to get this matter over the line and get extra support for those farmers who need it.