asked the Minister for Agriculture if he has made a request to the EC regarding funding to cater for the backlog of applications under the western drainage scheme.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Western Drainage Scheme.
13.
Mr. Coughlan
The western drainage scheme is one of the two elements in the overall measures for the development of agriculture in the West of Ireland, the second being the western package. Discussion will be opened shortly with the EC Commission on the review of the package which is due this year. The intention is that the future provision for drainage operations in the west will be examined in the course of the review.
Would the Minister not agree that it is very unwise to wind down that scheme? I am surprised that he has not had discussions before now. This scheme is supposed to be fully implemented in January of 1986 and it is very hard to see how the Government will get it going fully when they have lost half a year in the discussions.
I do not think that I could agree with the Deputy on this occasion. There is no doubt at all that the deadline will be met. I hope the package that is being put together and that has been talked about in Brussels at an unofficial level will be a very useful scheme when it is announced.
Will the Minister of State agree that he is talking in terms of clearing the backlog of applications and that it will not do anything for young farmers?
My intention is that there will be a new drainage scheme for the country that will take note of the needs of the areas concerned for the next five years.
Will the Minister guarantee that farmers who applied under the old scheme from 1982 onwards and whose applications have not been attended to will be covered by the new scheme?
That is what will happen. Obviously people who are on the books of the Department at the various offices will get priority.
Will the Minister of State indicate up to what date applications for the western drainage scheme are being dealt with at the moment? Will he state how many new applications are proposed to be dealt with in 1985? Can he give any indication when the proposed new scheme will come into operation?
A number of statistical answers are needed to reply to the Deputy's question. Because I do not wish to mislead the House I will not say what I think is the number or the date. I will give that information to the Deputy on another occasion.
Can the Minister of State give me the information in a general way? Have any new applications been dealt with this year?
Yes.
Up to what date are applications being accepted?
That is a separate question.
The Minister has made public statements on the matter. Let us get the facts.
The Deputy will get the facts. The date is up to about the end of April or May 1982.
When will the new scheme come into operation?
I am not aware of the exact date. It is subject to clearance from Brussels. It will be either in October or November of this year.