Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, but discussion on the overall Estimate and the amount of funding that may be available is an appropriate opportunity to ask the Minister about this issue. Regarding a potential additional underspend, can the Minister indicate whether there will be - or, at this stage, whether his Department envisages there to be - an underspend at the end of the year in respect of his Department's Vote? If so, what will be the amount involved? As already indicated, last week the amount stood at €222 million. What does the Minister project the figure might be at this point? How much of this is due to the processing of payments being delayed as a result of IT or administrative difficulties within the Department?

Regarding the SBCI fund in respect of which the Minister has submitted this Supplementary Estimate today, can he elaborate further on exactly how this will work in terms of the State and EU allocations? To what purpose exactly will the €24 million be put? Will it be loaned directly to farmers or is it there to insure the risk for the banks? If the latter is the case, does the Minister expect that a significant proportion of the €24 million may not be spent but will simply be there as insurance and that it may be recirculated at a later date for further use? Exactly what is the structure of this and how will it work?