Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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235. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a decision to put an aid package into a low-interest loan will have the effect of requiring EU state aid approval; and if so, his views on whether it will have the effect of causing undue delay which will cause further financial hardship for farm families. [27767/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The final decisions on how Ireland will utilise its allocation of €11.09m under the EU package for dairy and other livestock sectors, and whether matching national funding will be provided, must be made by end of November under the recent EU regulation.  I envisage decisions will be made well in advance of that date.

I am fully aware of the pressures on farmers right now and I have committed to working with all the stakeholders, both at national and EU level, to address these issues and ensure that we continue to have a sustainable and resilient sector.  One of my priorities is to support the provision of lower-cost, more flexible finance and I am working with all the financial institutions, particularly the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), to identify potential solutions to providing working capital finance for farmers. Any such solution will of course comply with State Aid requirements.