asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware of the chaos and hardship involved in the operation of the calf subsidy scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Calf Subsidy Scheme.
450.
I refer the Deputy to the statement which I issued on 8 July. The main problem at inspection centres arose from delays caused by the presentation by farmers of large numbers of over-age calves. The magnitude of this problem may be gauged from the fact that in the three weeks ended 9 July the Department's field staff dealt with almost 165,000 calves at some 260 centres throughout the country and that over 41,000 or 25 per cent of these had to be rejected as over-age. Following my statement of 8 July it is hoped that any impression that calves born before 20 May are eligible for the premium has been removed and that as a result pressure at the inspection centres will be eased.