Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath announced a total budget of €2.1bn for the Department of Agriculture for 2023. On a top-line basis, that is a substantial increase from the €1.86bn for the Department in 2022.

However, the number of once-off so-called “non-core” payments in the 2023 allocation means that Ireland’s agriculture industry is not seeing any real increase in long-term support today. Stripping out the €79m in COVID-19 support, the €238m in Brexit Adjustment Reserve allocation and the €13m Ukraine Humanitarian Response Allocation, the figure today is €1.81bn. The comparable number for 2022 - stripping out this year's COVID-19 adjustment - is €1.78bn.

The increase in the Department's allocation on this basis is less than €30m.

While there is an argument to be made that the only real number that counts is the top-line total, regardless of how it is reached - and this is surely one the minister will make - farmers cannot be in a position where they have to rely on once-off “non-core” payments to the Department to keep agriculture's budget in line with inflation.

Core voted current expenditure, the most useful year-on-year comparison for departmental budgets, shows that the Department of Agriculture’s share of the current-expenditure pie fell to the lowest level since 2014 in this budget.