Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have heard scripts but I have never heard one as poor as the one the Minister of State was asked to read out today. This is so sad. If I had time, I would go through the 276 actions. The action plan states, for example, that €1.2 billion per annum will be paid out in single farm payments. I will not say what I would like to say about that in the Houses of the Oireachtas. This €1.2 billion has been paid out for the past ten years because that is what the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, provides. The plan tells us that €4 billion will be spent on the CAP. First, the Government is not spending it and, second, that is an old commitment. The plan tells us the Government will spend €250 million on the Leader programme when it was €340 million the last time. It goes on and on. It is laughable. One of the great boasts is the Government will again roll out the RAPID programme, which it never should have stopped. However, we know this is primarily an urban programme, although provincial towns are involved.

See this speech in context