asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the boundaries of the areas in County Waterford in which it is proposed to apply the special system of aids provided for in Article 4 of the EEC Council directive on mountain and hill farming in certain less-favoured areas; and the special aids that will apply in those areas.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Mountain and Hill Farming Aids.
29.
The areas at present approved by the Council of Ministers for the purpose of this directive include those areas in County Waterford where mountain sheep production is a feature of the farming pattern, namely, the Comeragh/Knock-mealdown range of mountains, Curraghmore, Croughaun Hill and Knocknaglock in the Drum Hills.
Details of the aids which will apply in the various areas designated are at present being considered and I expect to be in a position to make an announcement shortly.
We are now well into 1975 and it is essential that people in those disadvantaged areas would be made aware as soon as possible of the special aids that will be available to them.
We had certain difficulties recently in determining the amount of FEOGA contribution to this scheme and the matter cannot be finalised. We know pretty well where we stand and we can operate the scheme at 25 per cent at present but we are reluctant to do so until after the April meeting.
Can the list of designated areas be reviewed from time to time in order to ensure that areas not now scheduled can be taken in if the facts in favour of their inclusion are sufficiently strong?
Yes, limited review is certainly possible but the criteria are fairly definite and are pretty well-known. There is not much purpose in pursuing an area which we know will not conform to these criteria. But this flexibility exists.
As regards criteria, the whole area has to qualify—is that the situation?
It must be an area that can be defined by boundaries, that is all.
Could the Minister explain exactly what he means by that? Does it mean townlands?
Townlands. You cannot pick out what I would call a scrap of land—or a parish—in relation to the total area at a distance away from where you have a disadvantaged area and say: "This is it." I could find one in some of the richest parts of Ireland such as County Meath and other places. It must have a small population and a declining population in the general region.
Does that mean that the whole of a townland will be included or excluded, that there will be no question of part of a townland?
Generally speaking, that would be correct.
30.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries why a number of small farm hill districts in North-East Cork have not been included in the disadvantaged areas scheme, with consequential projected losses of hundreds of pounds in the case of particular farmers; and if he will take steps to include typical disadvantaged small farm districts in mountain and hill areas such as Kilworth and Gortnaskehy, County Cork.
The area referred to in the Deputy's question is, in fact, included in the list of areas proposed to be designated for this country under the EEC directive.
31.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries why the Irish delegation at the EEC Council meeting on 13th February did not support Italian-French resistance to the imposition of a 25 per cent ceiling on EEC aids to hill farmers.
The Irish delegation to meetings of the Council of Ministers has at all times pressed for the maximum level of recoupment recommended by the EEC Commission, namely 50 per cent and will continue to do so until the matter is finally settled.
Is the Minister aware that the Continental Press reported that the main source of resistance to the lowering of the ceiling to 25 per cent was the French and Italian delegations and that the Irish delegation, surprisingly, were inclined to acquiesce in the German request to fix it at 25 per cent? I am glad to hear the Minister say this was not so.
At no time was there any inclination to acquiesce in the proposal regarding the level of 25 per cent. At one stage we looked for 65 per cent and pressed very hard for it. Personally, I did something that is not very appropriate for a chairman to do. I intervened in this discussion and criticised the German attitude while appreciating the position of the German Minister. I understood his position and it was a question first of having a price package or having no price package because of the disadvantaged area scheme and then it was a question of having a disadvantaged area scheme which we could operate at the 25 per cent level, or perhaps, of having no scheme for another 12 months. Sometimes you must do what is possible and that is what happened here.
The Minister will agree that the possibility of a further failure to agree on this hill area scheme is hardly likely in view of the very small amount of money involved, something like 30 million units of account. Surely they will not defer the whole scheme over a paltry sum like that?
They were going to defer the price package because it was part of a price package at the time and it might mean that we would be left for, perhaps, another two months on the old prices.
Considering the difference between the 25 per cent and 50 per cent, something in the region of 30 million units of account they will surely not break the package for that sum.
The Deputy knows that the chances of getting the Germans to agree to a 50 per cent contribution from FEOGA are non-existent. I wish that were not so.
May we take it now that 25 per cent is the certain contribution from the EEC fund for this type of scheme, that 25 per cent is what is agreed?
We could operate it on the basis of 25 per cent but it has been left open until after the April meeting of the Council of Ministers in the hope of getting that increase in the present year.
Is it the intention of the Government to back this pound for pound?
The amount of money the Government have set aside for the hill and handicapped areas scheme is already known and included in the estimate, and that is £6 million.
We are getting away from the subject matter. Question No. 32.
The Minister says the amount is only 25 per cent. How far will the money which the Government have set aside be from the maximum allowed by the EEC? We are looking for the maximum.
The maximum amount was 50 per cent which could come from FEOGA. We know that it is most unlikely that——
Would that increase our contribution to the EEC?
No, that is fixed.