asked the Minister for Lands if the Land Commission intend carrying out a restructuring programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. - Restructuring Programme.
58.
(Cavan): As the Deputy is aware, the Land Commission have long been engaged in a movement whose primary aim has been the improvement of the land holding pattern in the case of sub-standard units. This many sided programme includes migration, rearrangement and enlargement.
From now on these will be supplemented by measures arising from the EEC directives particularly that to encourage the cessation of farming and the re-allocation of utilised agricultural area for the purpose of structural improvement. In effect this will be the source of land supply for development farmers under the modernisation programme.
Does the Minister not feel that the Land Commission with their present limited format and special terms of reference are inadequate to meet the needs of the present day as presently constituted?
(Cavan): At the moment I am in the process of making a study of the existing procedures in the Land Commission with a view to seeing how they can be improved or modernised and brought up-to-date.