The question is that farmers are under severe financial pressure and many of them are waiting for their GLAS payments. Why is this so? I am asking the Minister to speed up the GLAS payments due to farmers. Why are they being held up? We are already in 2017 yet many have not been paid. I ask the Minister to pay them as soon as possible.

I ask the relevant Minister, Deputy Michael Creed, to reply.

We recently opened GLAS and now more than 50,000 farmers are eligible for payments under the scheme. Currently, fewer than 9,000 applications await payment. As such, a very substantial number of farmers have already been paid. We are working through this as quickly as possible, which I appreciate is cold comfort if one is among those awaiting payment. However, the Department is approving payments as they are processed. Some have outstanding documentation due and communication is happening with farmers in that regard. We are making every effort to clear the backlog of payments due.

A lot of them are in Kerry.