Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Within budgetary constraints, we have tried to respond as proactively as we can to what has been a disastrous summer. We did that with regard to slurry spreading dates. We reduced the closed period for most of the country by six weeks. We pushed back the deadline by a month and pulled the end date back by two weeks also. We have also relaxed the green cover requirements for people who have not been able to till fields. We brought forward a 50% advance of the single farm payment by six weeks. This has happened in the past but nevertheless it does not happen by itself. Disadvantaged area payments, and so on, are well ahead of schedule. I am conscious of the difficult environment in which many farmers are operating this year.

The reduction of €114 million in funding allocation should be no surprise to anyone. The figures for expenditure ceilings that apply to different Departments were published the year before last and last year, and will be published again this year. I can only do one of two things. I can argue to increase the ceiling on the amount of money available to me for capital or current expenditure, where I consider there is a structural problem in the ceilings agreed. If I do that some other Department will have to lose money. Alternatively, within the savings I have to make I can be as clever as I can to ensure that we protect farm incomes above all else. We are doing that, primarily by trying to find ways to save money within the Department. I remind colleagues that in the last three years, my Department has reduced the cost of running itself by €70 million. We reduced staff numbers by 900 and the number of regional offices was reduced from 58 to 17. We are trying to target ourselves, first and foremost, to make savings, but we will not make €114 million of savings within the Department alone.

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