Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 363: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when she will introduce REP scheme four; if people who completed their REP scheme three programme as far back as December 2006 will retrospectively be accommodated in REP scheme four; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18633/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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REPS 4 will form part of the new Rural Development Programme for the period from 2007 to 2013. The draft Programme was sent to the European Commission in late December 2006. Since then, my officials have responded to a substantial number of queries and requests for clarification from their counterparts in the Commission services. I am hopeful that this process is coming to a conclusion and that approval for the new Scheme can be obtained within a reasonably short period. Individual five-year contracts, which form the basis for payment, will run from the date on which a farmer is accepted into REPS 4.