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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 8 Jun 1972

Vol. 261 No. 7

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Small Farm Scheme.

64.

asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if acreage and poor law valuation are criteria for eligibility for participation in the Small Farm (Incentive Bonus) Scheme in EEC conditions; and, if not, by what will they be replaced.

65.

asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries when he expects to announce details of the interest subsidy scheme for livestock expansion on small and medium sized farms; the date from which it will be operative; and if it will be eligible for EEC funds from the date of accession.

66.

asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the changes, if any, which will be necessary in the Small Farm (Incentive Bonus) Scheme as a result of EEC entry; and the extent to which finance for the scheme will be recoverable from EEC funds.

With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 64, 65 and 66 together.

The scheme of loans at reduced interest rate for livestock expansion, details of which I announced on 2nd June, will operate from 7th June to 31st March, 1973. This is a temporary measure, pending the introduction of a comprehensive farm development scheme, and no part of the cost will be borne on EEC funds.

It is the intention that the farm development scheme, which will be in conformity with the relevant EEC directives, will replace the existing Small Farm (Incentive Bonus) Scheme. The principal change will be the substitution of the concept of income earning potential for those of acreage and valuation now used as eligibility criteria in the Small Farm Scheme. As the Deputy is, no doubt, aware, under the EEC directives, eligible farms will be those shown on the basis of a development plan to be capable of achieving, for each manpower unit on the farm, a level of income comparable to that earned by non-agricultural workers in the same region. A contribution of 25 per cent of the cost of aids for such farms will be recoverable from EEC funds.

Could I ask the Minister three questions? First of all, why are we not getting Community aid from 1st February to 31st March in relation to the livestock development project in view of the fact that we will be a member of the EEC from 1st February and should, therefore, qualify for Community aid? Could the Minister also tell me when he expects to bring in legislation to introduce the farm development project? Can he give us an assurance that it will be operative from 1st February so that we could start getting Community aid immediately? The third question is, is he aware that it was stated in the Press release at the time of the issue of these directives that Community aid would be available to the extent of 65 per cent in backward areas for farm modernisation? Could he tell me why, therefore, he says we will be getting only 25 per cent Community aid for the new farm development scheme?

The answers to these questions greatly depend upon the examination which has to be carried out between the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Commission in Brussels as to the details of our scheme as they now exist and the steps that will have to be taken to bring them into conformity with EEC regulations. Among those considerations will be the determination of areas for special treatment that will qualify for the maximum 65 per cent assistance that the Deputy mentioned. It is, as I mentioned in my reply, a purely temporary measure that may not be totally compatible with the EEC concept of the development farm.

Could the Minister not have taken steps to ensure that it was, so that we would get the money from 1st February?

In general structure it is adaptable and readily adaptable to the concept as we recognise it of the EEC development farm but certain adjustments will have to be made in agreement with the Brussels authorities.

Could the Minister not make them soon so that we can get the money from 1st February?

The examinations that are required in this regard are currently being carried out.

Why, then, did the Minister not mention the figure of 65 per cent in his original reply? Why did he mention only 25 per cent if he believes that it is possible that we can get aid to the extent of 65 per cent in some areas?

There is no reason to assume anything in advance of the detailed examination of such schemes. Until examinations have been carried out one cannot assume the result in advance.

The Minister is proceeding unduly slowly in regard to this matter.

I am doing nothing of the kind. The Deputy must acknowledge that this is a matter of the greatest complexity.

67.

asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries why the recently announced extension of the Small Farm (Incentive Bonus) Scheme is to be confined to the 12 western counties.

It was evident from experience that there were, in the western counties particularly, numbers of smaller farmers who, although not fully capable at this stage of reaching the minimum target of £1,000 gross margin within the time stipulated under the incentive bonus scheme, could, nevertheless, expand significantly with the aid of proper guidance and planning. The aim is to encourage as many as possible of these farmers to expand to the status of "development" farms as envisaged in the EEC directive on farm modernisation. The extension of the scheme is in line with the provisions in the EEC directive for transitional aids to smaller farmers and for special aids for areas like the west of Ireland where depopulation tends to be a problem and where the maintenance of agricultural activity is essential.

If this problem is confined to a great degree to the west of Ireland, surely it would not have cost the Department all that much extra to extend this concession to the whole country? Does the Minister not agree that there are certain very small farmers in all parts of the country who would benefit from the scheme and that it is wholly wrong to confine it to the 12 western counties?

No, I would not accept that it is wholly wrong to confine this special assistance to the western area, because this is the area that requires special assistance over and above what is being provided for the rest of the country. The existing small farm incentive bonus scheme has been improved very much since 1st January for the whole country, and this is an extension of that scheme in order to ensure that farmers who would not otherwise be able to benefit by the small farm incentive bonus scheme as it now stands will be able to overtake it, as it were.

There are some of those in County Kilkenny as well.

In the area I am talking about—I am speaking from memory—about four out of five of our farms under 50 acres are concentrated; about 70 per cent of the people who participate in the small farm scheme anyway come from that area. Obviously, therefore, this is the area that requires special assistance, particularly as the opportunity for alternative employment in this area is somewhat less than it is in the rest of the country.

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