Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Sorry, but the answer to that is that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Approximately 78% of herd owners have fewer than 20 cows. Does Mr. Gleeson see? I got the figures yesterday evening from Mr. Pat Preston in Mr. Gleeson's own Department. I am telling him that the herd size is tiny. Therefore, when he says 60% of applicants have fewer than 20 cows, that is inevitable. Based on the figures I was given yesterday, 22% of farmers with ten cows or fewer have applied for this scheme. They represent 55% of the herd owners in that group. Seventy-eight percent of herd owners have fewer than 20 cows. Obviously, if there are any applicants at all, the vast majority of them will have to be in that cohort.