Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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15. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the funding made available to dairy and pig farmers by the European Union due to the distressed state of the market in 2015 will be paid; the reason for the delay; the amount of money to be paid to each farmer; if there will be a national top up to this money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41247/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The relevant EU legislative provisions providing for this direct aid payment came into force in mid-October and provide that Member States have the flexibility to distribute this aid through the most effective channels at their disposal. Any decision on distribution obviously had to await the adoption at EU level of the relevant legislative provisions. In order to effectively address the existing market disturbance in the dairy sector, the European Commission deemed it appropriate to provide aid to Member States in the form of a one-time financial grant as part of its recent announcement on a package. The aim of this is to support farmers in the relevant sectors who are experiencing the most acute price fall and consequences of the prolongation of the Russian import ban.

As the Deputy is aware Ireland has been granted an allocation of €13.7 million from an overall fund of €420 million. The relevant Commission Regulation, as revised at the request of Member States, including Ireland, provides scope for a national top up of up to 100% to this EU payment. Member States are afforded the flexibility to distribute this aid through the most effective channels at their disposal. It is a clear requirement of the provisions regarding this aid that the funds need to be distributed on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria and also needs to ensure that farmers in the relevant sectors are the ultimate beneficiaries of the targeted aid.

In conjunction with stakeholders, I have been considering how best to utilise these funds to support Irish farmers.I have discussed these matters with representatives of the dairy sector, most recently at the dairy forum. I took the opportunity to update stakeholders regarding progress to date and to seek their opinions regarding how best to distribute this aid. In addition my Department have also had discussions with representatives of the Irish pig sector. I am currently finalising consideration of various options and intend to announce final decisions regarding the aid levels and mechanisms in the very near future.