Vol. 499 No. 3
207 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his Department has any financial or advisory assistance to offer hill sheep farmers in Connemara who would organise themselves into a producer group to upgrade the breeding of Connemara lambs and to organise a better marketing structure for them on the home and international markets. [2724/99]
Under the 1994-9 round of Structural Funds a total of £0.6 million was allocated for the formation of producer groups. Five sheep producer groups benefited from this funding. All funds have now been fully committed. There are thus no further funds available for such a programme at the present time.
The Deputy will be aware that I launched the first ever Bord Bia promotion for mountain lamb in September last year. It was undertaken with 50 selected prestige restaurants to increase the profile of the product, its different taste and competitive price. The services and expertise of Bord Bia remain at the disposal of mountain lamb producers to ensure they get the best return from the market for their particular product.
