Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 1658: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the number of applicants who have been assessed for the new agri-environmental options scheme; the number of persons who applied for the scheme on a county basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32936/10]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Letters of approval have issued to almost 6,000 applicants for the Agri-Environment Options Scheme (AEOS), giving farmers a start date in the scheme from 1 September 2010. This represents almost two-thirds of all applicants and the processing of these applications was carried out within a challenging time-frame. My officials are giving priority to processing the remaining applications with a view to issuing further approvals as soon as possible.

The following table sets out the number of applications received by county.