Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has to save €54 million in the coming year. I would like to see how he intends to do that and the effects that will have in the future. He also said that he hoped to increase the capital spending budget. I would like to see a breakdown of how he intends to do that. We do not have anything at this stage.

The suckler cow issue will have devastating consequences if it is not addressed. What is badly needed is a proactive incentive to bring people back into that sector, because the knock-on effect can be quite damaging for any projection. The Minister also said that savings had been made in the mapping section.

It is a big issue at this time and the Minister mentioned that himself. Has the Minister any intention of trying to address it, especially the loss to recipients, many of whom have taken big hits in that regard?

I hope we can get a sense today of what the Minister hopes to achieve in the budget. Any help we can offer will be forthcoming regarding the Department of Finance, including perhaps a collective proposal from the committee to support the Minister to try to secure the necessary funding. We are all for that.