Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for being here. I have a number of questions which I will try to condense as much as possible. I thank the witnesses for the information relating to deer and badgers because that answers my first two questions. I ask Mr. Ryan to circulate in writing the figures he gave on testing, particularly of deer. That would be very useful to the committee.

Was there a bit of complacency within the Department? I was reading through previous meetings this committee had with the Department when numbers were reducing and I got a sense that there was a level of optimism about the figures that, in hindsight, was not warranted. I do not know whether the witnesses heard Mr. Lorcan McCabe's contribution from the previous session. He spelled out what the elephant in the room is. We are asking ourselves what the differences are between Ireland and Scotland as regards the intensification that has taken place, particularly since the abolition of quotas and if there is a particular issue with intensification. Does Mr. Ryan's section within the Department collaborate with other sections in order to come up with the responses to that? Clearly, any intensification that takes place occurs because farmers need to intensify in order to deliver better prices and margins on their farms, or at least feel that they need to do so. Is there collaboration or discussions around pricing, how CAP support is distributed through supports for diversification on farms and whether diversification could play a role?

We touched on EU funding earlier. I note that the Department's opening statement essentially says that EU funding is reducing because of other animal health pressures. Is the truth not that the European Union has come to the opinion that the money is not being well spent because the Irish programme is not actually delivering a reduction? Have there been discussions at an EU level to try to secure additional funding for the new strategy moving forward, with increased funding if we deliver a better outcomes with our own programme? I would be interested in that.

I note that there are subcommittees within the steering group and that one of them is a financial working group. Is there a timeframe for that group to report and if so, what is it? What framework is it operating within and will it be charged with carrying out a cost-benefit analysis of the TB programme? As we mentioned earlier, we are talking about substantial amounts of money being spent annually. We are touching €100 million, a large part of which is being paid directly by farmers with the rest coming increasingly from the Exchequer. We all have an obligation to make sure that money is being well spent. Will a cost-benefit analysis form part of that group's work? If so, I ask that this committee be provided with that analysis at the same time it is provided to the forum.

I understand that the other two working groups relate to science and implementation. I ask for a brief synopsis of the specific role the Department sees those working groups carrying out. In what timeframe will they be expected to bring forward any recommendations or proposals?