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

I understand €10 million on the capital side and €8 million on the current side that could have been spent on the ground in rural areas has been handed back to the Exchequer. Will the Minister explain how he managed to underspend the current allocation in the Department? Will he also confirm loud and clear that €10 million paid out to local authorities more than a year ago has not been spent on the ground? This seems to be a case of gross mismanagement. When one adds the €73 million the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine failed to spend last year, one finds that rural Ireland has been cheated of approximately €100 million.

Will the Minister explain what he intends to do to ensure this underspend does not reoccur? Not only does he have funding from last year available to him, but he also has a sum of €7.5 million that was brought forward available to him. On what will he spend the €7.5 million?

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