The scheme has proved absolutely invaluable in areas where the aid has been available in keeping many farm families on their holdings. Certainly on the basis of the statistics I have, the suggestion that there is overcrowding is not borne out, but if the Deputy has specific examples and conveys them to the Department they can be considered.
At present the Community is approximately 82 per cent self-sufficient in sheep meat. Given the restrictions in different farm enterprises we would have to be very careful about the suggestion in the Deputy's supplementary question, having regard to the fact that it is an invaluable source of income for many farmers around the country.