The position in so far as my Department is concerned is set out in Vote 32 of the recently published abridged version of the 1990 Estimates for the Public Service. In summary, the total gross Estimate for 1990 amounts to £305 million.
I must point out, however, that this represents only part of the total amount which will be spent by my Department. In its capacity as intervention agency, it is responsible for very substantial expenditure on schemes under the guarantee section of FEOGA. It is not possible to estimate at this stage precisely the total amount which will be involved under these schemes this year but I am circulating a tabular statement detailing the net FEOGA payments of £886 million made under a variety of headings in 1989. In addition, a sum of approximately £124 million was spent on intervention purchases of beef, dairy products and cereals in 1989.
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (FEOGA) Guarantee Section 1989
The following table gives details of £886.153 million expended on schemes under the guarantee section of FEOGA during 1989.
Table