Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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In response to Deputy McConalogue's question on the profiling of expenditure, it is important to remember that the figures presented to the committee are the six month figures for the outturns to the end of June. There is no reason for alarm at this stage in respect of the profiled expenditure to the end of the year.

It is a difficult Department to manage in that many of the payments are demand led. Many of them go out of the end of the year. It is a management challenge to ensure we match expenditure with provision in the Department, but at this stage we are quite happy that our expenditure is on target.

One thing that would have skewed the capital expenditure to the end of June is that the World Food Programme payment of €20 million, which is usually made in the first six months, was not made until the early weeks of July. That would bring expenditure close to being exactly where we wanted it. We are, broadly speaking, on target. This is an ongoing issue in respect of managing the finances. We have a good track record in the Department of spending every penny that is provided to us and that is a challenge we continue to track to ensure we deliver the best possible outcomes for the fishing and farming communities that we serve.

On the beef data and genomics programme, BDGP, our profiled expenditure on that up to the end of June was €2 million ahead of schedule. We are quite satisfied with the level of provision. Based on the broad statistics, we have in excess of 24,000 in the scheme already. We will make many payments in December on that scheme. I know many of the members were at the National Ploughing Championships. If they were in the Teagasc, Bord Bia or Department tents, they will have seen that one of the things we are constantly pushing on the BDGP is the requirement for recipient farmers to complete the carbon navigator task because that is a precondition to receiving the payment and it is part of the original raison d’êtreof the scheme. We are on target. By 20 September 11,500 had completed the carbon navigation task, but of the 24,000 in the scheme quite a few have yet to do it. We expect that we will be paying that out as provided for.

The Deputy asked, and the IFA too has raised the issue with me and my colleagues, about additional payment for suckler cows. Two issues arise. One, it would require an amendment to the scheme which has been approved under the rural development programme and that is a cumbersome process, and two, it would also incur additional tasks for farmers. The BDGP scheme as constructed is quite an innovative and progressive scheme. I think Deputy Penrose would agree. I watched his performance in committee recently. Even sceptics of the scheme have come around to it and recognise the potential for it to achieve what the economic breeding index, EBI, has done on the dairy side. There is no intention on my side or that of the Department to seek to impose an additional obligation on farmers in respect of doing something for suckler cows. For those in the scheme, that would also skew the payments and would cause difficulties in respect of our ambition to open the scheme to others. There is provision of €300 million in the lifetime of the rural development programme for the scheme. Long before I or my predecessor arrived there was a record of drawing down every penny on schemes. We do not leave money behind in Europe and will not do so in respect of this scheme. We would prefer to do that in a fashion that allows more in rather than paying more for more complicated tasks which it would take some time to have approved and about which it is a big question whether the Commission would desire it. We are better off sticking with the construct of the scheme and getting more people into it.

On the €11 million co-funding, prior to this meeting I had a meeting with my colleagues in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the matter of co-funding and several other matters relating to the budget. That is a legitimate question. We still hope that will be possible. We have not thrown in the towel on that. The precedent is there for co-funding.

I might take with that the related question from Deputy Penrose on the dairy scheme generally. There are in the region of 4,000 applications, so approximately one in four dairy farmers have applied for it.

If the payment is made as envisaged, at 14 cent per litre, it would approximate a benefit of €11 million for farmers. That is if my recollection of figures is correct.