Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I know that well and the Minister of State is good too.

The Minister was not so forthcoming with the 40% for the farm improvement scheme. Just before the general election, on a fine morning at the great press conferences, I heard there would be a 40% grant for every farmer in the country for matters relating to the environment, up to 2013. Lo and behold on 31 October the hatch was raised and there is no grant available. That was not mentioned in the budget. I am probably the only person who has spoken about it.

Promises were broken and there is no value for money and it does not appear that through benchmarking there will be a process to create better value for money. Unlike the famous day when the former Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, started his budget speech by talking about decentralisation there was not a squeak out of the Minister about it this time because the Government knows it has made a hames of the programme.

My party is totally committed to decentralisation.

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