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

I am pleased to accept the invitation to attend the committee's hearing. This is a valuable opportunity to review how we are progressing through the various challenges and opportunities presenting across the agriculture, food development, marine and forestry sectors and discuss market prospects and new investment opportunities in same.
As we head into the final quarter of 2014, we have many successes on which to reflect and, in equal measure, many challenges to face. I am pleased to have secured agreement at Government level for a new rural development programme worth €4 billion in the 2014-22 period. The plan is in Brussels and I look forward to securing approval which, in turn, will enable me to launch new schemes aimed at dealing with the many challenges we face in order that we can be well positioned to respond to growing market opportunities. I want to secure the same future for the marine sector and have negotiated a new, substantially improved allocation of €147 million under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, EMFF, increased from €70 million. My officials are working on a draft operational programme that will set out a series of measures to drive investment in the sector to 2020.
This is a valuable opportunity to consider some of the wider issues beyond the financial data, including trade developments, issues relating to implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, and the proposals for the main sectors, particularly milk production, where we are on the cusp of achieving for the first time since 1984 a dramatic increase in milk output viathe elimination of quotas next year. If members want an update on superlevy issues, I will try to provide one.
In the financial data we have supplied in the briefing material we have tried to tie the financials and outputs together. While expenditure in 2014 is the central issue at this meeting, budget 2015 is not too far from members' minds. However, they are aware that I am somewhat constrained in what I can say about the budget. In 2014 we are operating within the expenditure ceilings set down of €1.019 billion for current expenditure and €200 million for capital expenditure. Our outlook for the year is that we will be as close as possible to reaching the target current and capital expenditure limits. The overarching objective for 2014 has been to build on the progress achieved in recent years in developing the agrifood sector and, in particular, further contributing to future growth and prosperity that the sector can achieve for Ireland.
In terms of the budget, the key priorities were supporting vulnerable sectors and protecting the incomes of family farms; supporting small farm holdings in disadvantaged areas; taxation measures to restructure, modernise and promote growth in the agrifood and farming sectors; providing support programmes in line with the targets of Food Harvest 2020, in particular job creation; supporting the future of the sector through new research and development funding and investment in food safety and animal health and welfare controls; and an ongoing programme of reform within the Department and its agencies aimed at continuing improvement in service delivery and reduced costs.
As members know, my Department's activities are organised under four programmes. Given my understanding that this is how the committee will review expenditure in 2014, I will not make specific comments at this point. However, it is useful to highlight the fact that 2014 marks a transitional period between two rural development programmes. We must take this into account when considering the issue. I am pleased that, since this discussion session last year, the overall funding package for the seven year programme has been completed and that we are close to completing a similar arrangement for the new seafood development programme.
Elsewhere in the Houses today we have already discussed the beef sector. Developments in the past 12 months have presented us with a real challenge. Many of the solutions lie outside the framework of Government spending and policy, but I have been active in seeking to influence and in taking direct action. I assure the committee that the sector is foremost in my priorities and I will continue to work with the industry at all levels to ensure that not only will we resolve the current issues facing the sector but that we will continue on a path towards achieving the key targets for the sector to which the industry has committed itself in the period to 2020.
In framing last year's budget in difficult financial circumstances I allocated €23 million to supporting the new beef genomics scheme, which will further progress the genetic quality of Irish beef and deliver world best practice in beef traceability.

When taken together with the beef data programme, worth €10 million, this allowed me to provide the equivalent of payments worth €60 per calf for some 32,000 herds, covering up to 550,000 suckler calves. In addition, we had the continuation of the €5 million beef technology adaptation programme, giving a total sector-specific package this year of €40 million for the suckler beef sector. That, of course, was distinct from the benefits to the sector of the disadvantaged areas scheme payments of €195 million and the single farm payment of €1.21 billion.

Another special feature of this year's budget was the Government's response to the severe storms and the damage these caused to harbours the length and breadth of the country. In addition to the increased provision for fisheries harbours, which rose from €8.6 million to €12 million, I announced an additional capital package of €8.5 million for the repair of publicly-owned piers harbours and slipways damaged during the winter storms in early 2014. The €8.5 million comprised €7 million for 111 projects to repair local authority-owned storm damaged harbours, piers and slipways and €1.5 million for remediation work at four Department-owned non-fishery harbour centres.

Looking to 2015, arising from the public finances situation, total Exchequer expenditure by my Department has reduced from €2.1 billion in 2008 to €1.219 billion in 2014. The 2015 expenditure ceiling for the Department was provisionally set down in the 2014 budget report as €1.005 billion in current expenditure and €168 million in capital expenditure but the financial determination of the 2015 allocation was postponed until after the completion of the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure 2015-2017.

Among the particular priorities this year is to provide an appropriate level of funding to launch both the new rural development programme and the seed food development programme under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund. The successful negotiations of both the new seven-year rural development programmes and the seed food development programme will heavily influence the Department's current and capital spending plans for the coming years. The RDP provides for an overall funding envelope, EU and Exchequer, over the period of some €4 billion. As part of that decision, it was agreed that the total Exchequer allocation would be subject to an affordability review in 2016 but the members will be familiar with the figures we have committed to in terms of the 46% co-funding rate.

The June 2014 announcement by the Commission of an allocation of €146.3 million for Ireland under the new European Maritime and Fisheries Fund is significant for the sector. In aggregate terms, this is roughly a doubling of Ireland's allocation of EU funds relative to our allocations under the former EFF and EU financial instruments for sea-fisheries control and data collection. The Department is preparing a new operational programme within the EU co-funding framework, and this must be submitted for approval to the Commission shortly. The expanded EMFF will give rise to increased Exchequer co-financing of the sector which is being finalised within the budget process at the moment.

I hope that gives an indication of some of the issues we are managing at the moment. If members have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. Otherwise, we can go through the four different programme areas.