Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. O'Driscoll and his team here today and acknowledge at the outset the important work of his Department, the courteous endeavours of his staff and his and his Department's important role over the coming months and years with respect to the implications of Brexit and ensuring that the future interests of agriculture in our country are protected. I have a few questions but, first, to follow on from his final point, I also commend his office on the Oireachtas liaison unit which I agree is very helpful.

Mr. O'Driscoll indicated that more than €900 million has so far been paid out in direct payments in 2016. An issue that has come to my attention in several cases recently relates to farmers who are audited on land eligibility. Many of them are not aware that they are under assessment until such time as the payment does not arrive and they make inquiries and then find out. Will Mr. O'Driscoll elaborate on why that is the case? Could those audits not be brought forward and carried out in early or late summer, thereby ensuring farmers' payments are not delayed? Is that a matter of staffing? What exactly is the dynamic behind the delay?

Slurry spreading is a particularly pertinent issue at the moment. The issue is a local one to particular parts of the country where ground conditions were acute until two to three weeks ago. Will Mr. O'Driscoll outline what the situation is for those farmers who were not able to get slurry on the ground in advance of the deadline due to extenuating circumstances? A number of farmers have contacted me about this and there seems to have been quite a bit of confusion in the past two or three days in terms of feedback and the situation that they face. Some flexibility has to be allowed. This relates to a small number of areas but a number of people are affected by it.

Mr. O'Driscoll touched on product prices. Beef, in particular, is under a lot of pressure at the moment. I want to focus on the Department's role in the export trade and, in particular, trade with Turkey. What does the Department expect the level of exports to Turkey to be, in particular over the coming weeks, but also over the coming months? How many exporters have been approved?

I understand that one exporter has been approved. Mr. Cahill might comment on that and whether there is potential for additional exporters to be approved, which would open up that market further and lead to an increase in the number of exports. I understand three vessels have been approved. Some of the vessels approved could be in business in other parts of the world, separate to the Irish export trade. Does Mr. O'Driscoll believe the Department could play a role in addressing that matter?

With regard to the rural development programme, RDP, schemes and the level of underspend so far on the targeted agriculture modernisation schemes, TAMS, and the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, what is the Department's assessment of that level of underspend? The average spend is less than what would have been projected, particularly in the GLAS, and the numbers are less than the total projected in both cases. Mr. O'Driscoll might comment on the level of underspend to date. On the reopening of the GLAS, the removal of low input permanent pasture and hedge cutting as an option in previous GLAS schemes inhibited some farmers' ability to increase their level of payments. What will be the position regarding those two measures when it is reopened in November?

What is the position on the old young farmers, which has been a problem since the current CAP programme came into play? There has not been a resolution of that but is it an issue the Department is willing to look at again? Is it possible, at national level, to seek to change that? My understanding is that it is within our gift. Could Mr. O'Driscoll confirm whether that is the case and, if so, what is his view on it?

I want to make two points, the first of which is on the need to provide sufficient resources to Bord Bia to meet the challenges of Brexit. An increase has been provided for in the budget, but did Bord Bia make specific requests in terms of what it felt its resource need would be to meet that challenge? Were those requests met in full?

With regard to the upcoming deadline for commonage management plans to allow farmers be paid their GLAS payments, that is a particularly acute issue in terms of all farmers, and particularly advisers, being able to submit those in time for payments to be made. Can flexibility be shown regarding that deadline in order to allow farmers to make their submissions and planners to deal with the amount of work affecting them? It would also ensure that the payments for farmers with commonage are not delayed as a result of the deadline.