Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Fisheries and Food if he has satisfied himself that he will achieve an advance payment of the single farm payment from the European Commission. [17623/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Single Farm Payment forms a significant part of the annual income of all farmers in Ireland. It is clear that the timing of this payment is extremely important to farmers, particularly those farmers with low farm incomes. Therefore, I decided that I would seek the approval of the EU Commission to make an advance payment of the SFP from 16 October 2011.

While the Commissioner's proposal is subject to ratification by the relevant EU Management Committee in July, given the widespread impact of the financial crisis across the Union, the impact of the drought in some Member States and the crises in the vegetable sector, I am confident that such support will be forthcoming and that approval for the Irish application can be obtained.