asked the Minister for Finance if he will explain why applications for credit from the Agricultural Credit Corporation are down by 50 per cent this spring.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Agricultural Credit Applications.
13.
The total number of applications received by the Agricultural Credit Corporation during the four months January to April, 1967, was 2,669 compared with 2,246 for the corresponding months of 1966 and 3,467 for the corresponding months of 1965. I should add, however, that the 1965 figure is not comparable as it includes applications for loans for the purchase of land, the funding of debts and other purposes for which ACC loans have not, in general, been made available since the summer of 1965.
Could the Parliamentary Secretary say whether this drop reflects a lack of confidence in the future of agriculture because of the disastrous year last year?
As I pointed out in my reply, a comparison between the loans given in the four-month periods for the three years mentioned is not a true comparison because loans were not given for the purpose of funding debts in 1966 and 1967 as they were in 1965 and, it should be remembered, for comparatively unproductive purposes like the purchase of cars or land.
Is it not true that the figures given by the Minister relate to applications and not to loans?
The figures refer to applications.
The Parliamentary Secretary cannot say how many were granted?