I propose to take Questions Nos. 534 and 535 together.
The Farm Improvement Scheme was introduced by my Department in July 2007 with funding of €79 million as agreed under the 2006 Partnership agreement, Towards 2016, and was suspended on 31 October 2007 as applications had reached this level of funding. 12,675 applications were received from farmers prior to the closing date of the Scheme and these applications are currently being processed within my Department up to the level of funding made available for the Scheme. To date in 2008, €6.518 million has been spent on the Scheme compared to €0.014 million in 2007.