Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. My understanding is that number has been reduced, but 9,000 still waiting is too many. What happened was that the scheme was expanded to accommodate everybody. When the Minister paid out what the Deputy suggested, he made advance payments. Some of them were over what people might have been entitled to, and then people were concerned about having to make payments back. In any event, I will talk to the Minister for agriculture in respect of how we can expedite payment and get this concluded.

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