Mr. Liam Herlihy:

It is amazing what a fine spell of weather will do. Very seriously, the amount of fodder depends on the area. Let us not forget that no two farms are the same. I live in one of the drier areas in the south. In my area, what has happened with third-cut silage has been enormously important. I have no doubt that there is still a fodder deficit in some areas. During the key period of the good weather, Teagasc played a hugely important role. Teagasc officials met farmers' groups, assisted with budgeting and dealt with the issue. Teagasc has been exceptionally proactive and encouraged farmers to do their appropriate measurements and deal with the deficit. There is still a fodder shortfall in some areas. In many areas, however, an acceptable back-end has filled that gap enormously.

I come from the private sector so I am concerned with the capital budget. Teagasc is unusual in not having access to additional funds. I do not for a moment suggest that Teagasc should skip away from the ambit of strict and careful fiscal policy. It should not. Having said that, in the past we have sold sites or farms that were no longer needed, which were used to fund some of our very important capital projects. Let me give an example. We have spoken about education, as have all of the members. Education and dealing with the green certificate issue is extremely important. I am glad to say that in the past the Government gave us the green light to recruit in excess of 40 staff members to deal with that very pressing issue. We will consider the continuation of that. It is vital to ensure that we can fulfil our educational needs and deal with the green certificate movement for a variety of reasons.

Not having access to an overdraft facility within the framework of strict fiscal governance is an impediment from the point of view of dealing with our objectives. One of the very important objectives is climate change. I refer to the latter as the new kid on the block. We have got to operate within the sphere of climate change. Rather than cursing the dark, we must deal with climate change mitigation from a positive and progressive perspective. In order to do so, we need appropriately qualified scientists.