Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

I can understand where the Comptroller and Auditor General is coming from on this. Such an exercise would have value in the round in terms of looking at the agricultural economy. What I need to be very careful about is estimating the Department's role in relation to this. What we have been requested to do by government since the scheme was put in place has been to operate an income support process in certain defined circumstances to farmers. In terms of how that impacts on their viability and how the agricultural sector can survive, there are many more variables that feed into the equation. As such, the Department of Social Protection is not best placed to carry out such an evaluation. Of course, we would be more than happy to contribute and play our role in it, but that it is a matter for other players to lead on who have greater expertise in that area. To that end, we are involved in the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA, which is looking at rural development and so have been playing a role in that space already. CEDRA has not specifically looked at the farm assist scheme, but it may very well be on its agenda into the future.