Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

If I had had a little more time, I would have spoken about some of the grant aid that is being planned for the sector. The Deputy will probably be aware of the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme for the dairy sector, which is about providing grant aid for dairy equipment, rainwater harvesting and the modernisation of parlours. Some targeted grant aid will be made available. A quite significant amount of financial assistance is being offered to the processing sector because it also needs to be able to build capacity to be able to deal with increased volumes of milk. One will see in the build-up to the upcoming budget a reflection of the support we need to give in terms of increased production in the form of grant aid. I must be honest also and state we are restricted in how much we can spend. Any increased expenditure I can produce will be as a result of much work on making the case for value for money spend, because every cent we spend at present is being competed for by many Departments because of the budgetary constraints that exist.

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