Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

——together account for over €250 million of the Department's Vote this year to ensure that investment in the farming, forestry, fisheries and food sectors continues to play a critical role in encouraging innovation, improving competitiveness and ensuring protection of the environment.

Expenditure, receipts and the achievement of key outputs are very closely monitored on an ongoing basis with a view to delivering the best possible service to stakeholders and to achieve key targets within the budget allocations agreed by the Oireachtas. Value for money reviews are undertaken on a regular basis. In addition, on the initiative of the Minister for Finance, the Department has been engaged in an efficiency review with a view to identifying measures which might be taken in order to effect improvements in efficiency in service delivery generally.

The Department's main contribution to this process was to commit to a further reduction of 200 in staff numbers over the next few years. Further initiatives to reduce costs and improve efficiency are under consideration.

I intend to continue with this prudent, ongoing approach to managing the Department's finances while taking due account of any decisions taken by Government in the context of the current more challenging fiscal situation.

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