Vol. 448 No. 7
94 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the allocation by his Department, under the heading "alternative farming", towards the establishment of venison herds; the number of farmers who participated in the scheme; the number of animals purchased under this scheme; and the amount of money still available for allocation. [2907/95]
The scheme for investment in alternative farm enterprises which operated under the operational programme for rural development 1989-93 provided aid for investment in deer farming.
Under the scheme 263 farmers received grant aid totalling £748,000 for the construction of handling, housing and fencing facilities related to deer farming while 179 farmers obtained aid of £560,000 for the purchase of 4,900 female breeding stock.
I have included investments in the development of the deer industry under the farm diversification measure in the operational programme for agriculture, rural development and forestry which was launched recently. Details of the alternative enterprise scheme are available from the local farm development service offices of my Department. There is a total public expenditure commitment of £35.4 million to the various diversification measures in the programme.
