Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

Those are all very reasonable questions. My answer, which I have been giving consistently, is that at the moment we cannot afford to put together an AEOS scheme that will cost as much as the AEOS scheme I introduced last year. We do not have the budget for that. Looking at the figures, we will have to make substantial savings again this year, in terms of the budgetary ceiling under which I must operate, unless I can negotiate an increase in that ceiling. However, I am not in the business of promising something and then not being able to deliver upon it on budget day. That is why I have consistently said that I will have to get approval to do this, and we will apply for that. This will be a more targeted scheme which will not be as broad as late year's scheme or as AEOS I. I have spoken to farm organisations about that and I will continue to talk to them about it during the summer.

If there is a new scheme, I want it to prioritise farmers who are working in SAC, Natura or commonage areas. In some cases, those categories are farming under severe restrictions in terms of what they can produce and the kind of stocking rate at which they can produce. There should be some recognition of that. In addition, they have a specific obligation to look after the environment because of the sensitivity of the land they are farming.

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