Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will explore the possibility of extending the pilot area in County Clare.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Clare Pilot Area.
12.
Mr. Sylvester
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Deputy Donnellan on 12th February. All the pilot areas were extended during 1967 and it is not my intention to extend them further at the present time.
Could the Minister say what is the reason for not extending if it is a good thing? Is it shortage of suitable staff or is it money or what is it?
I think the answer to all these requests for extension is contained in the name of the scheme — pilot scheme — designated and put into operation on the basis that it was in quite a small area, roughly about a parish in each case, in each of the counties originally selected, with an intensifying of the application of all the aids and advantages and subsidies available under an instructor. This then was further enlarged to see whether, in fact, what was learned on the quite small scale would continue to be true on an enlarged scale of up to three parishes as it has turned out to be on average. This enlarged area in each county is only a relatively short time in operation and the experiment, which one might call it, is still continuing and it is really from what we are to find from these various experiments on the pilot area basis that we hope to draw the information which will determine in the future whether, in fact, some schemes should, perhaps, be deleted, some amended, some extended and so forth. So really the purpose is pilot and experimental in the main.
There is a possibility then that they will be extended?
The question relates to County Clare.
Not on the basis that we now know them.