Before the Taoiseach's statement I had been talking about the land project scheme. I was urging the Minister to make arrangements to have applications under this scheme expedited. I had mentioned that there was a backlog in the processing of applications for drainage schemes in the land drainage section which amounted to about 12 months. I realise that the Minister has stated he is arranging for a transfer of staff from certain sections to land projects section to deal with the backlog, particularly in the west. This must be given the greatest possible attention. It will mean a trebling of the existing staff in the land project offices in western areas.
There is a certain amount of confusion where the drainage of land is concerned. There is ambiguity. Many farmers are not altogether aware of the particular section of the State service to which they should apply for drainage facilities. Certain drainage works are carried out by the Office of Public Works. Others are carried out under the local improvement schemes and others under the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries land project scheme. The source of revenue for the vast proportion of the drainage work on small farms will have to come from the land project scheme. The Office of Public Works are concerned with the larger arterial drainage schemes. There is a problem about the local improvement scheme because quite a small proportion of funds can be used for drainage from that source due to the necessity to use the bulk of that fund for poorer roads in the country areas.
The land project scheme will be the source for the completion of drainage. Agriculture is very valuable in our economy. With increasing yields and better machinery available to make land more productive, it would be a pity if we did not pay attention to the development of land. We should compare the acreage in this country with that of other countries where every square inch of ground is used. We have much leeway to make up. We have this native resource which does not depend on foreign raw materials. If we do not provide funds and staff for the Department concerned with this matter, we will not make the best progress. The Minister should pay attention to this point.
Coming now to the common agricultural policy, I compliment the Minister on the work done in Brussels this week in the interests of this country in getting a major concession accepted by the EEC in connection with dairy cows in hill country. In his speech the Minister referred to his commitment in regard to sheep and lamb. He stated that as yet there is no EEC scheme in this regard.
There is concern because of the escalating price of all types of grain. Much of this is entirely outside our control due to the world cereal prices, the situation of the harvest in Russia and the increased prices of certain raw materials in the US. I should like the Minister to see whether something could be done in this regard. Under the scheme which An Bord Gráin operated there was a subsidy system under which barley and wheat were sent into the western counties. The subsidisation supposedly worked to the benefit of farmers in the western areas. I have thought for some time that this was not a great concession. There was already a steep increase in price of green barley. The barley went through the various stages and was sent in railway wagons to the west. There were the costs of handling, drying and storing. Interest charges built up. When, eventually, it arrived in the west the farmers were not gaining all that much on it. With the increasing pig and poultry production in some parts of the west, a better method of subsidisation might be considered by the Minister. Perhaps deliveries of green barley to the west could be arranged. If barley is green one gets it at the right price. If there were drying stations and storage facilities in the west, the benefits would be greater.
I welcome the proposed change in the constitution of county committees of agriculture. I welcome the proposal to include on the membership of these committees members of vocational farming organisations. The seconding of representatives of such organisations will be very much in the interests of the agricultural industry. This will bring new views to the deliberations of such committees in addition to the views already expressed by elected representatives and nominees of county councils. This will give a greater incentive to young farmers to become active in vocational farming organisations.
We have a problem causing great dissatisfaction in Mayo in so far as the beef cattle incentive schemes are concerned. The Minister must be aware from the many representations received that there are two inspections under this scheme. There are no complaints about the first inspection but there are many serious complaints about the timing of the second inspection in areas where the land is poor. As a Deputy I am aware of continuing representations being made to me over a number of months in regard to this. The representations are coming from sensible farmers and responsible farming organisations. Something must be done to allow for sensible farming practice. In most cases the second inspection is taking place far too late to suit the working of the farm. If a farmer wishes to avail of the bonus he must hold his cattle beyond the time which is suitable, bearing in mind the type of land which he has. He is beaten either way. If he sells carly, he will lose his bonus. If he holds his cattle to get the bonus. he is engaging in poor agricultural practice.
This anomaly should be corrected. There seems to be two options. One is to bring forward the second inspection to an earlier date. There should be an emphasis on an earlier second inspection in areas of poor land. The other alternative is to arrange that there is one inspection. The question of one inspection might not be desirable nationally for certain reasons. But if not, why not look at the possibility of arranging a single inspection in the areas I mentioned? It is a serious and genuine grievance which should be corrected.
I am glad the Minister paid compliments to the working of the small farm incentive scheme introduced a few years ago. This scheme is apparently working very well. I know it has been of tremendous benefit in Mayo and I am proud, as a Deputy for Mayo, to be able to say that Mayo farmers lead the league of all counties where the joining of the small farm scheme is concerned. Any encouragement that can be given in this area is to be welcomed.
The Minister spoke about his basic philosophy and that of the Department. He explained that it was to ensure that the farmer who stays in farming will enjoy working conditions and living standards at least as good as those in non-farming occupations. Of course we all concur with those remarks but they bring to mind one of the great problems we will continue to have in agriculture for the next few years. It is in regard to the anomaly that, while gross farm income will increase and while family farm income will increase greatly, as it has spectacularly done over the last few years, we will continue to have a most serious problem where people are concerned.
Like other countries we are living in an era of mass production, an era of mechanisation, an era in which one man can look after as much land and facilities on land as ten might have done 20 years ago. No doubt this will be a continuing situation if we are to have regard to what has been happening and what is happening in the developed world. It seems that the policy of the Department will obviously have to be to make the farmer who stays on his land more productive and to provide him with greater incentives and facilities. Without question he should be in a position to compete in every way with people working in non-farming occupations.
However, the manpower problem we have is this. Today a very high proportion of our people are working in agriculture. Therefore, there will be a continuing cry over the years that, while farm income is increasing, there will not be the opportunity to provide employment in the agricultural sector for as many people as we might desire from a human point of view and from the personal consideration of many of our farmers.
For that reason, like the Minister, I welcome the socio-economic directive of the EEC to which he referred. It seems very sensible that if you are looking to the future and you are looking to individual families with a number of children but where there is possibly room for only one on the land, you must be concerned about the social aspect of agriculture. This does not apply to agriculture alone, but to the country in general, because it will be necessary to develop areas of employment other than in agriculture. More recently there is, happily, a better spread of industrialisation, which is beginning to offer substantial employment in most of the market towns which are the centres of rural areas. I welcome very much the fact that this is contained in the socio-economic directive and that it is the intention to arrange that farm advisers will be specially trained to deal with the overall family situation in addition to the essential agricultural aspect of work. Training in this regard is very necessary in the national interest if we are to arrive at a situation in which there will be full employment fairly evenly spread throughout the country in years to come.
The 40 per cent increase in family farm income between 1960 and 1972 is remarkable and is justification of our entry into the EEC. That represents an increase from £112 million in 1960 to £277 million in 1972. It would seem in this year that we are reporting on a healthy state of affairs in the Department and in the area of agriculture. Without attempting to strike a political note it is quite in contrast with the position in which Ministers for Agriculture have found themselves in past years. The Minister is fortunate this year and he recognised it in his speech in that through being a member of the EEC, with the support for agriculture, we are in a very much better situation nationally.
I referred earlier to the fact that the Minister was in Glenamoy peatland station in Mayo and examined the work they have carried out there in research where land utilisation is concerned. I know that he was very impressed by the work which has been done there. There are vast acreages of land in that part of the country which until recently was not looked on as being of any significant value. It is now becoming a much more valuable resource than had been thought possible. Farmers in such areas should be on guard and somewhat wary of offers they may be receiving for such land. I know that recently some people have come from other countries and have made offers for such land which have been 100 per cent greater than such land was sold at three or four years ago. This does not necessarily mean that is the going price for that land today. I would advise such farmers, if approached to sell that type of land, to seek the best advice possible before concluding any deals.
I read with interest the recent studies by farming organisations which went into the greatest detail in regard to the position of farms which are not worked. Whereas earlier I was speaking about land which was submarginal I am now speaking about perfectly good land of which we still have a very high proportion which is totally underutilised. I know the previous Government made attempts to deal with this. In the last week the Minister for Lands announced proposals designed to deal with this problem also. It is essential, in the interests of the country, that a policy evolves which will be successful and which will give incentives to young farmers, who are married and are raising families, to get the amount of land they require to make a decent living. At the same time it is also necessary to ensure that elderly people who may own land but are possibly not using it to the extent that it might be used will get terms which will attract them and result in a more productive situation.
Some years ago the then Minister for Lands, Mr. Ó Moráin, announced a scheme, but it obviously was not successful because merely a fraction of land changed hands under that scheme. The present Minister for Lands has introduced a scheme in regard to structural reform under which he has announced substantial retirement benefits for farmers over 55, married and unmarried, with an arrangement under which they will be paid a bonus of 10 per cent over the sale price of such land. In addition to this he is arranging an annuity for such farmers. I think it is £600 per annum for a married farmer and £400 per annum for a single farmer.