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

While this is a valid question, I think it is a strange one. The Department issues newsletters on a reasonably regular basis to update farmers who want to get that information. They are sent out in as cost-effective a way as possible. This is essentially an online service.

Nobody in my Department is being paid anything extra for this and we are not bringing in any extra staff for it. People are doing it as part of their function within the Department to inform farmers as best we can about the changes in agrifood which are positive and encouraging. If we were not to publish e-newsletters for farmers to access, we would be rightly criticised for not using technology to its maximum effect. At the National Ploughing Championships last year and this year we asked farmers to sign up to the database on a voluntary basis in order that they could get this information, and thousands of them did so. There is interest from my clients, the farmers, in getting this information. They are getting it at no extra cost to the taxpayer. It provides good value for money and interesting reading for many farmers who want to understand what is happening in the Department.

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