333. Deputy Tom Barry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the funding of tillage groups will become operational. [4582/15]

The Draft Rural Development Programme (RDP), submitted by Ireland in July 2014, proposes a Knowledge Transfer Programme which involves the setting up of farmer Knowledge Transfer groups led by trained facilitators across six sectors, including tillage. Subject to E.U. Commission approval of the RDP, the groups in the Dairy, Beef and Equine sectors will commence in 2015 with the  groups in the Sheep, Poultry and Tillage sectors expected to commence in 2016.