asked the Minister for Lands if he agrees with the assessment of An Foras Talúntais that the EEC standard minimum farm income of £1,800 per annum can be achieved on a farm of 18 acres of good land or 99 acres of poor land; if this assessment will be adopted for policy purposes by the Land Commission; and if he has any evidence to support an assessment especially in the case of the poor quality farm.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Farm Income Assessment.
20.
I understand that the assessment to which the Deputy refers was contained in a paper read recently by a member of the staff of An Foras Talúntais to the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland.
Under present policy, holdings and enlargements allotted by the Land Commission are planned to provide, where possible, family farms of 40 to 45 acres of good land or the equivalent in land of mixed quality.
The overall policy of the Land Commission is at present being reviewed in the light of the application here of the structural improvement measures adopted by the EEC and the views expressed in the paper referred to by the Deputy will be borne in mind in connection with this examination.
According to that answer, it is the policy of the Land Commission to give 45 adjusted acres so that the target might be reached. Is there not a major contradiction in the assessment of An Foras Talúntais of 18 acres and that of the Land Commission of 45 acres to give an income of £1,800 per annum?
As the Deputy is aware, I replied to a similar question here last week and indicated that a number of other matters have to be brought into the calculation, for instance, the quality of the land, the input of fertilisers, the working capacity and skill of the farmer and a number of other important factors. What the institute were setting out to do was to show that when all the exceptional aids were brought to bear on a particular case where there was very high fertility, it was possible to extract an income of £1,800 from 18 acres of exceptionally good land.
I am calling Question No. 21.
This takes us back to the question of feeding stock. How could cattle be fed throughout the winter from a holding of 18 acres?
That is a separate matter.