Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is okay, Chairman. I am just frustrated by the conversations about mapping and so on. I understand that is a hugely important issue for individual farmers, but it is not what we are here today to discuss.

In addition, there are time constraints involved. My difficulty relates to the fact that we do not even have a rough idea of how we might address this matter. We do not really know anything about from where the Minister might be seeking the €54 million saving required. I appreciate the dilemma in which he finds himself because he cannot reveal the budget to us. At the same time, however, we cannot identify - from the range of issues involved - whether this is an appropriate matter to discuss. That is because we have no idea at all with regard to where the Minister is seeking to make the cuts which, we appreciate, must be made. I am finding this process extremely difficult.

A matter to which I have referred on several occasions in the Seanad relates to the incredibly difficult weather conditions experienced earlier in the year and their impact. None of us knows what the weather conditions will be like next year. We must be in a position to discuss this matter in the context of what we might need to spend and the action we might be obliged to take should there be a recurrence of the weather conditions experienced last winter. That is just one tiny matter which might not relate to budget constraints at all. Research from the Met Office and elsewhere indicates that conditions in Ireland are inevitably going to become wetter.

There is no mention of the marine in any of the documentation. I find the process involved here too fuzzy to allow us to really engage with it. I am not laying blame, I am merely outlining the position as it stands. In light of the fact that this is a huge Department, we should examine ways of how to improve the process and make it more focused. It is not as if the Minister is not working hard, he is doing so. However, we cannot engage with him.