Vol. 397 No. 4
23 Mr. Harte asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will make a statement in relation to the flax project in County Donegal; the amount of money which was paid out during 1989-90; the names and addresses of those persons who have been paid grants; and if he will give an itemised account of the projects which have benefited.
In 1989 the office of science and technology in my Department undertook to fund a pilot flax growing project in County Donegal aimed at assessing the efficiency of modern retting and scutching technology. As part of the project eight Donegal farmers grew flax in 1989. This was one of a number of regional infrastructure projects funded by the science and technology development programme.
To date a sum of £45,000 has been paid out in respect of the project to the North-West Community Development Institute, which is a sub-committee of the Donegal Vocational Education Committee. The director of the institute is co-ordinator of the pilot project.
The following is an itemised account of payments:
|
£ |
|
|
Lambeg Industrial Research Association — Technology transfer and know-how |
15,554 |
|
Teagasc Donegal — Advisory Service |
1,200 |
|
Greenmount Agricultural College — Hire of machinery |
863 |
|
Purchase of Puller |
4,574 |
|
Purchase of Deseeder |
6,587 |
|
Services of Machine Operator |
541 |
|
Grants of £6,000 and £4,000 representing approximately one-third of the cost of installation were paid to Messrs. R. Craig and P. McGowan, respectively, in relation to one retting tank on each of their farms for co-operative use by all eight growers. |
|
|
North-West Community Development Institute £5,000. |
