Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

2014 Pre-Budget Briefing: Discussion with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

11:20 am

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

Correct. That is why I am saying that there is less pressure on us to cut schemes than was perhaps the case last year. On the other hand, we are trying to find new money to invest in a support scheme relating to suckler cows.

I wish to nail a few matters in respect of which people appear to have totally unrealistic expectations. One of these is the idea that we could simply roll over REPS next year, that this would be okay and that we would still be able to save the same amount of money. The latter is simply a non-starter. We did not roll over REPS 2 or REPS 3 so why should we roll over REPS 4? The cost of such a roll-over would be significant.

We are making some savings in the context of the suckler cow welfare scheme. This is because €10 million was spent this year which will not be spent next year. That was an overhang from last year. Some money is also being saved in respect of the early retirement scheme. The cost relating to that scheme decreases each year. Approximately €4 million will be saved in this regard. Money will also be saved in the context of marketing and processing but this is on the capital side. We anticipate that up to €8 million will be saved in this regard.

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