Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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307. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for his Department's underspend of €95 million against profile at the end of October 2015; the breakdown of this underspend, by scheme or subhead in the Revised Estimates Volume; the steps he will take to ensure a full spend of the Estimate by the end of 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39614/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A profile of projected expenditure on a monthly basis is drawn up at the beginning of each year in order to anticipate the Department’s funding requirements and financial management over the course of the year. The profile which is the best estimate of expenditure available at the time is difficult to forecast and may vary significantly during the year for a variety of reasons, such as the level of payments under demand led schemes, the pattern of drawdown of Grants by State bodies, the levels of disease incidences and payment of compensation, etc.

The recent Exchequer returns for my Department show the approximately €95m under-spend relative to profile is comprised of €75m current expenditure and €20m capital expenditure. The table below shows the subheads where the expenditure profile gap is greater than €1m. These account for €93m of the €95m mentioned in the question. I expect this profile- outturn gap to be substantially closed by the year end.

The forthcoming supplementary estimate process will provide an opportunity for adjustments to allocations to take account of emerging priorities and savings as well as for the provision of additional funding and I will include appropriate proposals in that regard with a view to ensuring the best use of voted resources.