Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The figures there are broadly based on the number of animals in the country and the number of tests we project for the year ahead. The significant change in the past year was the change in compensation. We went from 3.5% to 4.5%, so in the initial budget last year that would have been €37 million, whereas at the end of the year it was €43.9 million and this year we have allocated €45.5 million for it.

On administration and pay, the primary change around that is the Brexit costs and the cost of additional staff around Brexit. That is where the bulk of that expenditure comes from. If the Deputy looks across the four programmes A, B, C and D, he will see a similar increase. There is a public expenditure and pay calculation that we follow across those, which balances expenditure out across the four programmes. There is a similar dynamic there as a result of the fact we are seeing an increase across the four programmes but it is primarily down to the increased staffing allocation arising from Brexit. Then there are increases coming from public sector pay increases being applied to existing staff as well.