asked the Minister for Agriculture in view of the concern regarding the system of assessing applications under the winter food voucher scheme if he will re-examine the guidelines to take into consideration the expenditure incurred by applicants who had bought in winter fodder at inflated prices.
Written Answers. - Feed Voucher Scheme.
24.
As already announced, the guidelines for assessing applications under the feed voucher scheme have been re-examined and as a considerable part of the winter fodder purchased by farmers this year has been in the form of straw, I have decided to exclude straw from the calculation of fodder deficiency on farms. This measure should make a substantial contribution to alleviating the problem.