minister could i direct you to the entry threshold under the eu solidarity fund
it is set as i understand it at something like eur three billion
it is set at the same level for a large country as for a small region and a large region
in consequence you can have a level of devastation from flooding such as we had in northern ireland this summer where it is very extensive in that specific region yet because it falls below the threshold and does not extend to the whole nation there is no access to the eu solidarity fund
is that fair
does that not need to be looked at and do you not also need to look at the foolish hoops which agricultural producers in particular have to jump through in order to try and access this funding
