All will be revealed on 13 November and subsequently in the budget in which some tidying up can be done. While funding for Teagasc was cut last year and the organisation underwent some streamlining, its services were not affected and it continued to do a tremendous job, especially in regard to the information meetings for the mid-term review. Bord Bia and Bord Glais also tightened up their operations.
The REP scheme receives a substantial allocation each year. In the past two years, however, its allocation has not been used in full and had to be redistributed because an insufficient number of farmers applied to the scheme. We have tried to simplify REPS, introduced computerisation and in every way sought to encourage farmers into the scheme. Teagasc provides independent planners and farmers can get from €5,500 per annum up to over €12,000 per annum if they are involved in the organic REPS. To date, however, we have found it extremely difficult to get farm ers to apply to participate in this worthwhile scheme.