Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I compliment the Minister on a job well done, not just on the CAP but also on the CFP.

The sugar beet issue is also close to my heart. Does the Minister think an EU fund should be put in place to allow for the cost of holding the EU Presidency to be borne across all member states? It seems unfair that if a country spends too little on holding the EU Presidency, it may not progress.

Does the Minister intend the new IT programmes to be compatible with those in other Departments? Should other Departments share some of the cost, especially the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government because there are linkages with inspections? I presume the new IT programmes will take the making of payments into account. Many have basic and consolidated payments which I presume will have to become part of one payment.

A hobby-horse of mine during the years has been maps. There have been issues continually about lines on maps, be they the old Ordinance Survey maps or more modern ones. The mapping company is not at logger-heads, but, unfortunately, farmers have to deal with this matter when one crosses a boundary. If one map is out of sync, it pushes other boundaries a certain distance also. Will mapping be re-examined in the light of the new IT systems?

Other items include a 2% allowance for producing certain extra crops. Will it be made compatible and thus easier to claim the 2%? When oil seed rape became part of industrial production, many forms had to be filled and sent off. It was much too complicated, but there is now a chance to have a one-stop-shop system.