Large proportions of taxpayers' money have already been committed to healthcare, housing and public pay restoration, bumping farming down the priority list for budget 2019, according to An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who made the comments after visiting the main farm organisations at the Ploughing.
Leo Varadkar at the National Ploughing Championships 2018. \ Philip Doyle
“There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to budget… numbers are tighter than people expect. We have committed a big increase for housing next year,” he said. “We’ve reduced average waiting times for people waiting for operations to six months. So it’s money well spent, but it’s money nonetheless.
“We’ve made a lot of commitments already and that means there isn’t much room for manoeuvre.”
He said that his visit to the farm organisations was a good opportunity to hear “about the tough year farmers have had”.
Leo Varadkar at the National Ploughing Championships 2018. \ Philip Doyle
Rocky patch
The Taoiseach dismissed fears that agricultural exports to the UK would be subject to WTO tariffs post-Brexit and said that the Government is not making any plans to accommodate a hard border.
“I think we can have a deal. We are entering into a rocky patch over the next couple of weeks. But I am determined to keep working to secure that deal that we need before the end of the year. Ideally, October or November.
“We want to protect citizens' rights, maintain a common travel area between Britain and Ireland, have a backstop in place to ensure a hard border won’t be in Ireland and have a transition period so that businesses and farmers have time to adjust to any permanent changes that are going to take place.”
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Large proportions of taxpayers' money have already been committed to healthcare, housing and public pay restoration, bumping farming down the priority list for budget 2019, according to An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who made the comments after visiting the main farm organisations at the Ploughing.
Leo Varadkar at the National Ploughing Championships 2018. \ Philip Doyle
“There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to budget… numbers are tighter than people expect. We have committed a big increase for housing next year,” he said. “We’ve reduced average waiting times for people waiting for operations to six months. So it’s money well spent, but it’s money nonetheless.
“We’ve made a lot of commitments already and that means there isn’t much room for manoeuvre.”
He said that his visit to the farm organisations was a good opportunity to hear “about the tough year farmers have had”.
Leo Varadkar at the National Ploughing Championships 2018. \ Philip Doyle
Rocky patch
The Taoiseach dismissed fears that agricultural exports to the UK would be subject to WTO tariffs post-Brexit and said that the Government is not making any plans to accommodate a hard border.
“I think we can have a deal. We are entering into a rocky patch over the next couple of weeks. But I am determined to keep working to secure that deal that we need before the end of the year. Ideally, October or November.
“We want to protect citizens' rights, maintain a common travel area between Britain and Ireland, have a backstop in place to ensure a hard border won’t be in Ireland and have a transition period so that businesses and farmers have time to adjust to any permanent changes that are going to take place.”
Read more
Farmers feel shafted at every turn – Healy
Vital that low-cost credit is delivered by Government - Martin
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