Vol. 485 No. 4
88 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps, if any, he will take to ensure that the necessary funding of £6 million is put in place in 1998 to reinstate, in full, the installation aid scheme in view of his failure to secure the necessary funding in the budget to reinstate this scheme for young farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23585/97]
I have obtained the agreement of the Minister for Finance to draw up a new more tightly focused scheme of installation aid to be targeted towards smaller farmers. My aim will be to ensure that any new scheme will result in resources being concentrated on those young farmers who need them most. My Department will initiate discussions in the near future with the farm organisations and the revised scheme will subsequently be submitted to the Minister for Finance for agreement.
In the budget I secured the provision of £3.5 million for 1998 for the scheme of installation aid for young farmers to enable the remaining applications which had been received in my Department when the scheme was suspended on 7 August 1997 to be processed and to ensure that outstanding payments will issue as soon as possible in 1998.
