Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Of course. One is allowed a little poetic licence. I too welcome the superb capital plan and genuinely feel that people will pay much more attention to Senator David Norris's welcome of it than they will to Senator Marc MacSharry's false criticism. I do not want to go on about the capital plan; it speaks for itself, and others have referred to it. Today, I would like to mention briefly three items concerning our farming community on which we may be able to have some discussion in due course, when time permits. I believe increased funding must be allocated for agri-environment schemes with full payments to all GLAS and AEOS participants; there must be an extra allocation for areas of cultural constraint to reverse the cuts of previous budgets and support farming in marginal areas; and finally, there should be a modest increase to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, to pay farmers for restrictions resulting from land designation where such restrictions are not covered by GLAS. Perhaps these matters can be covered in a pre-budget statement or, if not, perhaps the Leader would allow for a debate on agricultural matters.