asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the steps being taken or which will have to be taken in this country to implement the recent EEC directives on the provision of socio-economic advice to farmers.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - EEC Farm Directives.
25.
My Department is at present considering what steps will be needed to implement this directive, which has to be observed as from mid-April, 1973. Our existing agricultural advisory and education services are, however, already well geared to deal with many aspects of the directive.
Is the Minister aware that the service on which this directive is most likely based is that of the Netherlands, where there are 171 advisers specially and exclusively assigned to give socio-economic advice and that if we are to provide an equivalent service we will need to start training people immediately so that they will be available to give advice on the necessary scale from April, 1973?
It is likely that the size and the personnel of the new farm aid service, which will include this socio-economic advice, will have to be expanded but I am quite confident that the service we have now and that is in process of developing, will be able to cope.
Is it not the case that at the moment we have no specialist socio-economic advisers and that that is a situation which must be remedied quickly?
That is true, in a sense. I do not think we should become too bemused by the rather impressive title, socio-economic adviser. Really, what it amounts to is giving advice, in our case, to farmers who may decide to retire from farming because of age, and matters of that kind, and in this way there may be a need for some specially trained people and for specialised training for the general staff. This is so.
May I ask the Minister, will this directive have any implications in regard to the payment of unemployment assistance to farmers?
The directive we are talking about does embrace the circumstances under which, let us say, farmers going out of farming will become eligible for retirement payments. Is that what the Deputy means?
Will it be possible to maintain the present non-incentive type of assistance or will its nature have to be changed?
That is a question I could not answer without notice. The Deputy would want to define it more clearly.
Are any discussions taking place within the Minister's Department or with other Departments?
This whole question is being examined at present.
This matter is not covered in this directive. This is purely about advice and has nothing to do with payments.
There was quite a large batch of directives on 24th March.
Does the Minister accept that unemployment assistance will be payable to farmers after 1978 on the basis on which it is payable now? Does our type of payment on a land valuation basis conform with the European Community requirements? As I have mentioned again and again, my information from the European Community is that it does not.
The relevance of the question to socio-economic advice to farmers under EEC regulations escapes me. I cannot imagine a situation in which people who qualify for unemployment assistance would not get it.
On a land valuation basis?