Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If I may, Chairman, I will briefly answer Deputy Ó Cuív's question. It is a fair question in the context of the article in The Irish Times today which suggests there has been a 40% cut in schemes in the past five years. It is important to answer articles like this so that people understand the reality.

If one takes the farm waste management scheme, which was for a specific purpose and cost €413 million, and if one takes out the administrative budget for the cost of delivering these schemes in terms of the savings we have made, which is €303 million, the figure for the reduction in expenditure on schemes during the past five years, forgetting about which parties were in government, has been 20%, not 40%.