On a positive note, spending on REPS will be increased to €355 million next year, thus ensuring new entrants will be catered for, and the Minister deserves credit for doing everything in his power to protect the REPS payment. There are currently approximately 60,000 participants in the REP scheme, which addresses environmental imperatives and consumer demand for environmentally friendly food production. Under REPS 4, grant aid will be increased by 17%, which is very much welcomed on this side of the House. Expenditure on forestry will be increased by 6%. This will facilitate a similar level of planting to that of this year. The benefit is twofold in that it will help to boost the income of farmers and contribute to addressing climate change.

The suckler welfare scheme was established recently and expenditure is expected to amount to €215 million over five years. However, the number of participants has substantially exceeded expectation and, as a result, there is pressure to reduce the rate of payment per animal to bring expenditure back within the €215 million limit. This is in accordance with what the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Mary Coughlan, stated when announcing the grant.

There are a number of areas in which farmers are experiencing difficultly but I am confident that the Minister, Deputy Smith, will deliver for them, as he has done recently in respect of REPS. I commend him on his efforts to address concerns raised during the WTO talks earlier in the year. He handled those talks very well——

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