Vol. 255 No. 6
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he has any plans to reorganise the agricultural advisory service of county committees of agriculture; and, if so, if these plans will be placed before the Dáil for discussion before any final decisions are taken.
25.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will prepare a White Paper on the agricultural advisory service to permit public discussion on the subject before any decision is taken on the reorganisation of the service.
26.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if it is his intention to issue a White Paper on the agricultural advisory service; and, if so, when.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take questions Nos. 24, 25 and 26 together. I have had discussions recently with representatives of the General Council of the County Committees of Agriculture and with representatives of the advisory staffs of the committees on the question of reorganisation of the agricultural advisory service. Such reorganisation has been recommended from a number of quarters during the past few years, including a published report on an expert review of the Irish Agricultural Advisory Service commissioned by my Department, and the report of the public services organisation review group.
It is generally accepted that a reorganisation of the present service is necessary but the precise form the reorganisation should take has not yet been settled. When the matter has been fully examined following the consultations in which I have been engaged the question whether a White Paper will be issued will be duly considered. In any event a reorganisation of the service will involve amending legislation which will enable the House to discuss the matter.
The Minister said that he discussed the matter with certain organisations. Would the Minister say what parties have submitted their views to him on the reorganisation of the agricultural advisory services? The Minister speaks about expert advice. Is he talking about the Jones Davies recommendation? If so, is he aware that this recommendation is now obsolete in view of the report of the committee on State expenditure in relation to agriculture and the recent changes in the National Agricultural Advisory Services of England and Wales?
The Deputy has asked a series of questions.
I asked two. The first was: what organisations have submitted views to the Minister?
Most of the major farming organisations have submitted views. We have had comments from Macra na Feirme, the National Farmers' Association, the Irish Agricultural Advisory Organisation, the Irish Science Association, the National Agricultural Council and the Agricultural Institute, among others.
Can the Minister state how many have been in favour of the idea of the State taking over, and how many have been in favour of having an autonomous set-up?
That is a separate question.
That aspect has not been referred to in the questions.
The Minister will agree that it is an important matter. Does the Minister think that the Jones Davies recommendation is relevant, even in view of what has happened with the report of the committee on State expenditure since then and what has happened in England and Wales?
Yes, it is relevant.
Even though it has been contradicted and rendered obsolete?
By whom?
By the Government review organisation.
I would not agree with that.
Would the Minister not agree that all wisdom in relation to agriculture does not necessarily rest in his own Department and that it is desirable to maintain a reasonable degree of autonomy for the research and advisory services?
I readily accept that all wisdom does not rest with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries or with any particular body or group. On the question of autonomy, that is a matter of far greater importance and it would need to be considered much more fully than merely in a discussion at Question Time.
