asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will consider giving grants to farmers for the installation of bulk milk tanks as this is a vital step in the rationalisation of the dairy industry.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Bulk Milk Tanks.
22.
Applications for grants towards the cost of bulk milk tanks are a matter for the Industrial Development Authority who, I understand, consider each application on its merits, having regard in particular to the effect of the installation of such tanks on rationalisation of the creamery industry in the area concerned.
Why has this been hived off to the IDA?
It has not been hived off to the IDA. It is a normal part of industrial reorganisation and as such naturally falls within the ambit of the activities of the IDA.
It is not a normal industrial development in so far as the responsibility for the delivery of milk is the producer's responsibility and it requires a certain piece of equipment to do it. In the normal way grants for farm equipment do not come through the IDA. This divided responsibility never works out well.
The Deputy will accept that it is also a normal and natural evolution in the rationalisation of milk collection which is industrial in its nature.