Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I will make what I am saying clear, rather than have the Minister put it in other words for me. The Government should be honest with farmers at all times. I am also saying that it was absolutely dishonest in this instance. On the GLAS scheme, the Minister refers to commitments running up to 2022, the point when everyone who is currently in GLAS will be out of it. By the time everybody is out of GLAS in 2022, just under €1 billion will have been spent on the scheme. If Deputy Cahill or I were to launch a scheme afterwards, anyone would expect us to be up-front with farmers. They would expect us to indicate what is the remaining commitment from previous schemes, and what will be the commitment for new schemes. Deputy Coveney indicated with great fanfare what the Government's commitment for a new scheme was going to be - €1.45 billion. Deputy Creed expects to sally in here three or four years later and say the Government did not really mean that. We can just wash away the €450 million shortfall, because even though the then Minister told everybody that, he did not mean it. He was thinking something else.