Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials and thank them for the reports which were supplied in advance of the meeting. This is an especially opportune time, given that we are just two weeks away from the budget. I wish to refer to a few matters in the Minister's statement as well as some items in the programmes. The Minister indicated that current expenditure is running at 92% of profile, which is about €30 million less than was forecast at the start of the year. Current expenditure is now €346 million while the profile indicated €375 million. The Minister is also slightly behind in capital expenditure.

The Minister and his Department are making projections and assessments as to where things will be at the end of this year. Those calculations will be crucial in determining what space the Minister may have in the run-up to the budget. The Minister must make those calls now in order that he will know where he stands when the budget is put in place in two weeks' time. Does the Minister expect that by the end of the year there will be an underspend in the Department which may give him funding for more scope with certain measures next year?

Based on projections at the start of this year, how are payments now running under the beef data and genomics programme, BDGP? I know that numbers in the scheme are far fewer than what was budgeted for. Some 35,000 were budgeted for, while only 25,000 are in the scheme. The same situation applies to payments under this year's budget for the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS. Will the Minister assess the capacity for improving the uptake of these schemes next year? As regards the BDGP scheme, is there a potential to use unspent funds to increase payments per cow, either next year or as we approach the mid-term Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, review?

Will the Minister comment on the €11 million of co-funding which is an option for the Government under the €350 million EU fund? Where does he stand on the requirement for a commitment, which is an urgent necessity for farmers to deal with cashflow pressures as we approach year's end? It is required sooner rather than later.

Looking at the graph for the aquaculture licences and the related figures, the number of applications outstrips the number of determinations made each year to the extent that there is now an even more significant backlog. What action is the Minister taking to try to address that?