Vol. 479 No. 1
87 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will identify the areas and the sub-headings within his Department where savings have been made to provide for the recently announced £17 million compensation package. [12327/97]
94 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he has satisfied himself that he is able to meet the commitments given to date in 1997 from his existing allocation. [12393/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 94 together.
The principal Vote committment given in 1997 is the proposed £17 million package of national compensation for beef producers in relation to recent revaluations of the Irish pound. As stated in my press release of 23 April the majority of the cost will be funded from savings within my Department's Vote. The savings amount to £13 million in total; £10 million from Subhead L1 — Market Intervention and £3 million from subhead L.3 — Forestry. On present trends the remaining allocations for these subheads will be adequate to meet 1997 requirements. The balance of £4 million will be provided from within the overall Exchequer budget estimates.
Any other commitments given to date in 1997 will be funded from within the allocation for my Department.
