Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. As the Minister pointed out to me in a response to a parliamentary question I received on 14 November, up until that point in time only 52% of all rural development programme funding for 2016 had been paid out to farmers. The Minister knows as well as I do the enormous pressure that agriculture has been under this year, across nearly all sectors. There are significant cash-flow pressures. It has been a difficult year for dairy and a difficult year for sheep, and an exceptionally difficult year for the tillage sector, and, indeed, for beef. It is unacceptable that expenditure from that budget is backloaded to the end of the year when every effort should be made to bring as much of it forward. This can be done within the rules and regulations under which the Department must operate.

In relation GLAS, the Department has been slow in ensuring that the scheme was up and running so that full-year payments could issue to farmers. However, in relation to the overall budget which is €256 million for 2016, can the Minister give a guarantee that the budget will be spent in full this year and, if not, what will the funding be allocated towards instead?

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