I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The purpose of this Bill is to make permanent the legislation under which county councils are enabled to adopt schemes by which credit is provided for the purchase of seeds and fertilisers by small cultivators. Schemes of this type have been operated at intermittent periods from the year 1880 onwards. The last comprehensive Act dealing with such schemes was the Seeds and Fertilisers Supply Act, 1942, which applied to the period from the 1st August, 1941, to the 31st July, 1942. Short continuing Acts extended the period of application of the 1942 Act to the 31st July of last year. Under the present Bill the main provisions of the 1942 Act are reenacted with one important additional provision and that is one which makes the adoption of a scheme in any year a reserved function of a county council for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1955.
It is not the purpose of the Bill to provide agricultural credit in the broad general sense of the term. Its object is merely to empower county councils to provide credit for small cultivators who might otherwise have difficulty in obtaining supplies of seeds and fertilisers. Two types of schemes may be operated by county councils under the Bill. The usual type of scheme is where a council pays the merchant the cost of goods supplied to an applicant and recovers the cost from him. The other type is a guarantee scheme under which the applicant obtains the goods from the merchant and the council guarantees the merchant the cost in the event of failure to recover from the applicant.
Last year 19 out of the 27 county councils adopted schemes. The total number of loans was 1,828 and total cost £35,619, the average loan thus being about £19 10s. Provision is made for recoupment by the State of half the losses incurred by county councils on the schemes. Experience has shown that there is a demand for the facilities afforded by these schemes. Year after year the great majority of county councils have adopted schemes, although there was no compulsion on them to do so. The schemes have worked very smoothly. Losses to county councils have been negligible and the State has not been called upon to make any recoupment.
On many occasions in recent years, the Dáil has approved of Bills applying for short periods the principles embodied in the present Bill. It is considered that these arrangements should be placed on a permanent basis, and that is what this Bill proposes. I am confident, therefore, that the Bill will be readily accepted by the House.