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

The idea behind the legislation, which was in place long before I took office, was to provide for an annual approval process. This is a considerable amount of money. It is going into a strong industry which needs it and which is delivering much more back to the State than we put into it. It is still money, however, and if the ceiling is to be increased every year, there is a requirement for a checking system through this committee. I agree that it would make sense to change this procedure. We investigated ways of doing that in the legislation and hopefully there will be an opportunity to discuss the legislation in the coming weeks. It will then be up to the committee.