Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

It is a sensible change in the rules. It will mean that farmers will no longer have to wait for six months for a refund of deductions amounting to €350 in most cases.

With regard to budgetary decisions in general, Deputies will be aware that these were made in the context of the deterioration in the overall economic and financial environment. Our approach has been to strike a careful balance between increased borrowing, higher taxation and reduced spending. Clearly, there will be consequences for every sector of society. The Government has agreed a five-year plan with the EU Commission to secure stability and growth. In agriculture, the objective has been to protect the most productive elements of the agriculture, food, fisheries and forestry sectors and to ensure they continue to make the maximum contribution to the economy. It is vital that the sector is well positioned to get through this very challenging period and to exploit the opportunities that will develop as the international and national economies recover.

Against this overall background, one could easily forget the Government has provided more than €1.9 billion in the Department's Vote in 2009. When combined with EU funding of €1.4 billion, this means total expenditure by the Department in support of the agri-food and fisheries sectors this year will exceed €3.3 billion.

The agriculture and food sector has the capacity to help lead the nation's economic recovery in the years ahead. This is regardless of the economic difficulties Ireland currently faces. There is no doubt the country is fully capable of producing and exporting high quality food and drink products. Despite the challenging market, currency fluctuations and turbulent export environment, food and beverage exports in 2008 were worth approximately €8.2 billion to our economy. The agri-food sector represents our most important indigenous industry and has the potential to boost export returns substantially in the future.

The EU medium-term outlook for agricultural commodities foresees a gradual recovery supported by growth in global food demand due to population increase and also a long-term decline in the growth of food-crop productivity. These factors can work to the advantage of Ireland. Agriculture and food production are always subject to change and challenges and while agriculture is often more resilient to economic crises than other sectors, there is no doubt that certain parts of the industry are facing significant challenges this year. We will continue to work to help the entire agri-food sector remain competitive such that it may capitalise on the inevitable global recovery.

Addressing the industry's capacity to compete successfully at home and overseas has assumed a new urgency and my belief is that a new development plan for the period to 2020 is required to maintain the impetus gained from the very successful Agri-Vision 2015 strategy. Preparatory work has already started on this plan which is focusing on the critical issue of competitiveness, the challenges from the global economic downturn, currency fluctuations, climate change and how best to maximise the opportunities arising from a growing international food and energy crop markets.

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