asked the Minister for Agriculture the number of staff employed in the recent survey of lands on a townland basis prior to the submission to the EC for an extension of the severely handicapped area; the cost of the survey; and the acreage examined.
Written Answers. - Disadvantaged Areas.
637.
Some 70 officials from my Department were involved in the review of the boundaries of the disadvantaged areas undertaken with a view to having the existing areas extended and in certain cases reclassified as severely handicapped. The majority of the staff were engaged part time on the review and it is difficult to isolate the time specifically spent by officials on reclassification or to attribute accurate costings to the work involved. During the course of the review the position with regard to close on four million acres of land was examined with a view to considering eligibility for designation.
638.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is aware of a request made to his Department by north Connacht farmers to have an application made to the European Commission that the north Connacht farmers and Donegal creameries' catchment area be given the same concessions as the Cantal regions of France; if he has included consideration of this in the application to the Commission regarding the extension of the severely disadvantaged areas; and if he has included this proposal in the application to the Commission by his Department in respect of the review of the farm modernisation scheme directive.
The question of extending the status of mountain areas to certain disadvantaged areas in the west under EC Directive 75/268 has been the subject of separate and specific representations to the EC Commission but the Commission have not put forward any proposal in the matter for consideration by the Council of Ministers. The issue is also being raised separately in the context of the present discussions in the Council of Ministers on the Commission's proposals on agricultural structures.