asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will clarify the comments which he made concerning the co-responsibility refund at the recent ploughing championships in County Carlow.

The point I made was that a substantial proportion of the aid allocated to Ireland by the EC last year for refund of the co-responsibility levy was not availed of by cereal growers. I wanted to urge eligible growers i.e. those who had not more than 100 hectares under cereals in 1987 and who paid co-responsibility levy of not less than £20 between 1 July 1987 and 30 June 1988, to apply for a refund before the extended closing date of 31 October 1988, if they had not already done so.