Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to present this request for a technical Supplementary Estimate for 2016 in which I am seeking the committee's approval to use savings on the Department's Vote to fund other desired expenditure. As these proposed transfers and expenditure involve significant changes to the original 2016 voted allocations, I believe it is important to seek the committee's input and approval. Specifically, this technical Supplementary Estimate will transfer €20 million of savings in certain areas of the Vote to bring forward expenditure commitments due in 2017 under the World Food Programme, WFP, and also transfer a further €13.9 million of other savings to fund the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, agriculture cashflow support loan scheme, which I announced in budget 2017 in October.

The €33.9 million current funds required would be transferred from various subheads where, due to changed circumstances, savings have emerged, most notably in the administrative budget pay and non-pay subheads, the fisheries fleet decommissioning scheme which is not yet in place, the seafood development programme, technical costs associated with the operation of European Union, EU, schemes, the green low carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, training, research, the early retirement scheme and the food safety animal health and welfare programme.

In 2015, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform lifted the moratorium on recruitment and delegated responsibility for managing my Department's human resources to the Secretary General. This removed the numbers threshold my Department operated under during the moratorium and provided flexibility to recruit and deploy resources subject to adherence to specified pay ceilings. My Department's management board continually assesses our critical business needs and our human resources division works closely with our recruitment partners, the Public Appointments Service, PAS, to fill those needs.

The recruitment process has been slower than we would have liked, due mainly to the significant pressure on the PAS system from across the public sector. To date in 2016, my Department has recruited 110 new staff across a range of skills sets. Our aim is to build the Department's resource levels to 3,200 by the end of 2017 with the right mix of skills, experience and competences to ensure we continue to deliver a high quality service. The delay in the recruitment process will give rise to a saving of approximately €13.5 million in the 2016 payroll allocation. A further €1 million will be saved over various non-pay subheads under the administrative budget in the Department.

Our seafood sector is worth in the region of €850 million annually to our economy and I am aiming to achieve €1 billion in sales by 2020. A key driver of this increase will be the €240 million European maritime and fisheries fund, EMFF, operational programme which was officially launched in January 2016. Schemes under the programme will assist seafood enterprises to sustainably grow their production, add value to our seafood exports and create much needed employment in our coastal communities.

I made some €36 million available in 2016 for the EMFF operational programme in the budgets of my Department and its agencies to get the new schemes up and running. However, there are some savings this year as schemes roll out. There will be a saving in region of €8.5 million on Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM's, 2016 current expenditure budget primarily because a proposed fleet decommissioning scheme did not start this year.

There will also be some €1.5 million current savings on other EMFF budgets managed by my Department. These savings identified this year will not affect the overall budget available for the seafood sector under the EMFF operational programme as these investments will occur over the later years of the programme. To demonstrate my continued commitment to the EMFF operational programme, I have made available an increased budget of €43 million, up from this year's amount of €36 million, for the EMFF in 2017 across the budgets of my Department and its agencies.

It is also anticipated that savings of just over €2.5 million will be achieved in the animal health and welfare area due to reduced instance of disease. These savings are expected in the tuberculosis, TB, eradication area, where the generally positive situation in TB has been maintained. However, I know difficulties continue in some areas and we cannot be complacent about the future. Expenditure on the control of horses scheme is also lower this year than anticipated

There will be savings of some €2.5 million under the agri-environmental scheme specifically in the training allocation under GLAS and some €3 million will be saved under the subhead for market support and clearance of accounts which covers potential financing costs associated with the operation of common agricultural policy, CAP, schemes and also the costs associated with the land parcel identification scheme, LPIS, upgrade project. Other savings are in the early retirement scheme and research grants where the drawdown of funding following awards made under the most recent research call has been slightly slower than expected.

Overall, these current expenditure savings amount to some €33.914 million and these savings, with the committee's approval, will be transferred to the World Food Programme area. The additional €20 million provided for the WFP in this Supplementary Estimate represents an advance payment of next year's commitment under Ireland's strategic partnership agreement with the WFP. This earlier disbursement is at the request of the WFP’s executive director, who has written to inform me that this funding will make a significant contribution that will enhance the WFP's capability to plan its interventions and better address the many growing humanitarian crises around the world.

My Department leads on Ireland's engagement with the UN's World Food Programme. The WFP is the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide and is funded exclusively from voluntary contributions. It is responsible for the delivery of food assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world and feeds 80 million of the most malnourished people in 80 countries. It works in partnership with other UN and international organisations, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, civil society and the private sector to enable communities and countries to meet their own food needs.

The WFP also plays a significant role in the UN's global campaign for zero hunger, and is at the forefront of dealing with the migration crisis. This contribution will help save lives and support food security and nutrition and rebuild livelihoods in fragile settings. Ireland has a strategic partnership agreement with the WFP which doubles Ireland's core annual multilateral contribution to the WFP to €20 million for the years 2016 to 2018. This follows a commitment that Ireland made at last year's Expo Milan event to support WFP. This funding, while generally targeted at the WFP's emergency and protracted relief operations, is provided on an un-earmarked basis which gives the WFP the flexibility to plan and target this funding in the most strategic, efficient and effective manner.

While this increased commitment is provided on an un-earmarked basis for the reasons I have outlined, it represents a key element of the Government's enhanced and increased response to the ongoing refugee crisis associated with the conflict in Syria. In particular, it is a significant part of Ireland's contribution to the EU's response to this refugee crisis.

This contribution enables life-saving assistance for people living on the front lines of hunger, conflict and climate change and reaffirms Ireland's role as one of the World Food Programme's most engaged partners. Ireland's multi-annual commitment facilitates effective assistance for hungry and malnourished people, particularly in regions devastated by war.

Some €13 million of savings identified will be used for the agriculture cash flow support loan scheme that I announced on budget day. In September this year, in response to market difficulties being experienced by milk producers and farmers in other livestock sectors, the European Commission made a package of exceptional adjustment aid measures available to members under Regulation (EU) 2016/1613, including an allocation to Ireland of just over €11 million. The €13.9 million of the Vote savings identified will be used to provide additional funding for loans for livestock sectors and a parallel product to be made available under de minimisstate aid to all other farmers, particularly those involved in tillage and horticulture. This innovative scheme will primarily provide loans to enable farmers to pay down expensive forms of credit, such as merchant credit and other short-term credit facilities like overdrafts, improve management of their cash flow and reduce the cost of short-term borrowings. The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, aims to make these loans available in the market by the end of January 2017. The scheme, with total funding of €150 million, will support highly-flexible loans for up to six years for amounts of up to €150,000 at an interest rate of 2.95%. This rate will represent a significant saving for farmers when compared with other forms of unsecured short-term finance currently available. The loans will be flexible, with interest-only facilities of up to three years. Normal lending assessment criteria will apply, although as the loans will be unsecured, it will facilitate a more straightforward application process.

I announced earlier this month that the SBCI had invited financial institutions to take part in the agriculture cash flow support loan scheme and a number of applications were submitted by the closing date of 25 November. These will now be the subject of a formal approval process to be completed in the coming weeks, with the outcome to be announced at the start of the new year. I encourage farmers to consider their cash flow and borrowing position now, and if appropriate to their circumstances to be prepared to apply for these loans when they become available.

This is a technical Supplementary Estimate and the savings outlined will be used to fund both the World Food Programme and the SBCI agricultural cash flow support loan scheme. I earnestly recommend this Supplementary Estimate to the committee for support. I am happy to respond to any questions members may wish to pose.