asked the Taoiseach whether, in view of the very valuable information provided by the National Farm Survey and the importance of such information for the improvement of the agricultural industry, he will arrange for the survey to be continued without interruption.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - National Farm Survey.
The objectives of the National Farm Survey when it was initiated early in 1955 were, briefly, the improvement of the National Accounts Statistics in respect of agricultural income; the establishment of figures for the output and income of farms, classified by region, size of farm, pattern of farming, etc.; the introduction on a widespread basis of account-keeping in agriculture; and the production of data of value to Farm Management Advisory Services.
While much valuable information has been obtained from the National Farm Survey, it has, for various reasons, not proved to be a suitable method of measuring the year-to-year changes in agricultural output and income. For this reason, the Department of Agriculture has, instead, arranged, with the co-operation of the Central Statistics Office, to inaugurate, early in 1959, an inquiry designed to secure the production of farm management accounts for a selected group of farms, with a view to obtaining data more particularly suited for management purposes on individual farms and for different kinds of farming enterprises. It is hoped, after an interval, to resume the National Farm Survey on a representative sample of farms, in order to assess the changes in the agricultural economy over a number of years.
The principal agricultural organisations were fully consulted before this change was made, and they unanimously endorsed the proposal.