Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to a few of the points raised by Deputy McConalogue first. Regarding his persistent line of prosecution that we are underspending on the rural development programme, the reality is that we are behind profile on it. As a result of the fact that GLAS payments are made in December, we will have our spending under GLAS on target by the end of the month. All those awaiting GLAS payments know that they are issued in December.

Regarding the crisis fund, I appreciate the points the Deputy raises in respect of the tillage sector. As I said earlier, I met the chairman of Donegal IFA while on a visit to the county and I understand the issues raised. However, even if I had an open amount of resources, I am legally constrained by state-aid rules in the context of what I can do. Given that access to affordable finance was a common thread in the views expressed at the stakeholders' forum and in all the pre-budget submissions we received from farmers' organisations and others, we thought it a reasonable proposition to use the de minimisprovision that exists under state-aid rules to leverage the €150 million loan fund at much more affordable interest rates than previously. We have used the latitude we have under state-aid rules, that is, the de minimisprovision. If somebody draws down the maximum SBCI loan over a three-year period - I appreciate that not everybody will do so - he or she will avail of the maximum de minimisprovisions available from the EU.

Deputy McConalogue also made the point that the €7.5 million relating to Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, seems to be the largest savings figure. He referenced the decommissioning scheme. The €7.5 million is significant to BIM and does relate to decommissioning. There is a saving of approximately €500,000 in pay in BIM. Overall, however, the largest headline saving in my Department, interestingly, is on the administrative side, at €13.5 million, on the basis of intended recruitment of additional staff because of the embargo for several years and voluntary redundancies on top of that. We have a number of emerging gaps in the skill set required in the Department. Due to the fact that - within a controlled framework - some latitude was granted to State agencies and Departments to hire additional staff last year, the Public Appointments Service was busier than usual. Therefore, anticipated recruitment of additional staff in 2016 did not take place and there is a saving of about €13.5 million as a result.

Regarding the SBCI and the purpose of the €25 million, which consists of €14 million in Exchequer and €11 million in EU funding, it has gone into leveraging the fund. There is approximately €100 million in European investment funding and in the region of €50 million in SBCI funding.

The sum of €25 million is in the context of a subsidy to the interest rate that farmers will pay and a guarantee against first losses. The provision makes the fund more affordable for anyone who avails of it. The purpose of the €25 million is to make sure that the product is more affordable.

The reason for the scheme is evident when one considers the Q1 Central Bank report of 2016 as it made reference to the cost of finance in Ireland relative to other EU member states. The report clearly shows that other countries had access to more affordable finance. If I recall the detail correctly, Austria led the way with products available at 2.2% and Ireland had a significantly higher rate. The provision of €25 million does something to address the matter. I hope, as a consequence, it will force more competition in the market not just from the pillar banks but from other players to make finance more affordable for farmers.

Recently Deputy Cahill and I attended a meeting in Limerick with the ICMSA. On that occasion a farmer said that the KBC Bank was offering a product at the same interest rate. I do not know whether he or she compared similar products. If it is the case then the step is welcome.

I ask the Chairman to repeat his question.