Vol. 266 No. 7
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the steps he has taken to ensure that funds are made available from the EEC Regional Development Fund for the proposed expansion of pig production, plans for which were submitted in the form of a draft memorandum to his Department by East Galway Co-operative Society Limited and Western Farming Development Co-operative Society Limited.
16.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he has received proposals from East Galway Co-operative Society Limited and Western Farming Development Co-operative Society Limited for the development of pig production in Mayo and Galway.
These societies have submitted a joint application for financial assistance from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund towards the cost of a pig production project which they propose to carry out. The application is at present being examined by my Department to ensure that it is in conformity with the relevant EEC Regulations and when this has been done it will be forwarded to the European Commission for consideration. The question whether assistance will, in fact, be granted is a matter for the Commission to decide.
Surely the Parliamentary Secretary realises that such an enterprise would bring £9,400,000 to the west of Ireland? It is of vital importance that we get money from the EEC to save the west.
I think the Deputy knows that I have discussed the matter in detail with the two co-ops concerned and that I attach a good deal of importance to the application.
Question No. 17.
That is a different question from Question No. 16.
One of those questions here has been postponed. That is why I am on Question No. 17 now. No. 16 is postponed.
Allow the Chair to clarify this matter. Am I to take it that No. 16 is postponed and that we are now on Question No. 17?
Yes.
I was led to believe last week when I asked for some questions to be postponed that unless questions on a similar subject were postponed by other Deputies my request would not be favourably considered. I understand that when there are two questions on the same matter and one Deputy wants to postpone his question this will not be allowed unless the other Deputy does the same.
The answer would have been the same to the two questions.
What is the ruling on that? My information is that it could not be postponed.
The answer has been given to the Deputy, I understand. We cannot debate it now.
I understand that you cannot postpone a question if there is a similar question on the Order Paper by some other Deputy.
There was no intimation given to the Chair that No. 16 was postponed. The first I heard of it was from the Minister.
Could you clarify the matter for Deputies putting down questions who sometimes find that they need to withdraw a question due to the fact that they are unable to attend the Dáil at a certain time? It has been stated to me also in the General Office that if another Deputy has a question down of a similar nature and the Minister proposes to take both together by way of reply, unless the other Deputy also withdraws the question I shall not be entitled to withdraw mine. Is that so?
That is exactly what I was told last week.
Where there are questions down on a similar subject by different Deputies, it is clear that a question cannot be postponed; it must be answered if one Deputy insists, because it would be repeated the following week and would be disallowable by the Chair.
It would be disallowed the following week?
It could be, as a repeat. We are on Question No. 17 now.
