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

I have a lot of time for the pigs and poultry sector, a sector which does not get the benefit of single farm payment nor the benefits of most of the rural development programmes although we are trying to change that, in particular with regard to slurry management. We want to be helpful to the sector and the only question is how much we can afford to spend. There are competing demands. If I spend more on this scheme I will need to spend less on something else. It is a case of trying to measure how we can get best value for money from that TAMS II programme. We are trying to spread what is a lot of money across quite a large number of areas, from dairy expansion to pigs and poultry to beef and sheep handling, to farm safety, to young farmers, to the organic sector and so on. The money needs to be divided among all those sectors. I agree with the Deputy's request which I regard as a very reasonable request by the poultry sector to update and modernise its housing from an energy management point of view but it will be necessary to wait for the details of the scheme which will be launched in a few months time.

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