asked the Minister for Agriculture the action he is taking to make additional resources available to the Land Commission in County Galway in view of the details of his reply to the Dáil last week which indicated the vast amount of land to be divided in County Galway.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Galway Land.
17.
The resources of the Land Commission are deployed to the best advantage and I do not intend to augment the staff in County Galway at the expense of other areas. Budgetary constraints rule out the recruitment of additional staff at present.
Is the Minister satisfied with the present situation in County Galway as indicated in his reply to my question last week which contains six pages listing estates in County Galway which are in the hands of the Land Commission and which need to be divided? Is he satisfied with that position and, if he is not, is there anything he can do to improve it? Further, there is not much point in the Minister coming up with new proposals for land restructuring when in County Galway and every county we have long lists of estates, ranging as high as 155 hectares in a case in Galway, which need to be divided and farmers dearly need the land.
Contrary to what the Deputy has said, there are several counties which have very few acres of land owned by the Land Commission for redistribution. I might also point out that County Galway has more inspectors than any other area.
Could the Minister send a few to the Cavan-Monaghan area?
I must accept, however, that there is a great deal of land in County Galway to be redistributed and I have given an undertaking that between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of all land on hands will be divided by the end of 1984.