Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I appreciate that the Minister has only been in office for a short time and that she has much work to do to rectify the damage done by her predecessor, who was in office for ten of the last 12 years and did nothing on the nitrates directive. The Minister said she has €30 million, although I believe the amount is €38 million, allocated for farmyard pollution. In 1997, £60 million was spent on this while last year only €17 million was spent. Taking account of inflation, is the Minister satisfied that the €38 million is sufficient or is she relying on the fact that there is so much red tape, farmers will be unable to draw down the money? The sum of €38 million will not do much in this day and age to rectify the serious problem that exists. Does the Minister understand the anxiety among farmers over whether they will be in production in 12, 18 or 24 months as a result of this nitrates directive?

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