I move amendment No. 1:
In subsection (1), line 20, to delete "fifteen" and substitute "twenty-five".
The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that for the coming financial year it will be possible for committees of agriculture to demand sufficient moneys from the rating authorities to ensure the continuation of their full services. This amendment was tabled by my colleagues and myself in case this would not be possible under the terms of the present Bill. It would be disastrous if even one county committee of agriculture found they were unable to continue with the same quality, volume and scope of service they have been giving.
We must remember that there is an ever-increasing demand on the service by the farmers. We should be pleased to see this because, looking back 20 years, farmers were not seeking out and getting advice on new techniques and aids to more economic production. Last week I heard two lectures from the World Bank and they left me in no doubt as to the financial position of Irish agriculture. Neither the commercial banks, nor the ACC will entertain applications for loans or for facilities from farmers unless the farmers have a farm plan. The drawing up of these farm plans by our advisers are a time-consuming operation and they must be executed in great detail and with great care. They must take into account the ability and the capacity of the farmers to meet the projections and figures in these plans.
This type of service is coming more in demand and will be even more in demand in the years ahead. No county committee of agriculture is sufficiently staffed to meet this demand. The Minister is well aware of the relative success of the small farm incentive scheme. This throws a considerable burden on our advisers and we should like to see this scheme developed to a greater extent. Yesterday the Minister quoted figures for some counties, but there must be still one or two counties which have in the current year utilised the maximum demand they could have made on the rating authority. Despite that, they find themselves extensively in the red with their treasurers. This is not a desirable situation for such important bodies.
The figures quoted last evening for Counties Mayo and Kerry by the Minister indicated conclusively that the personnel of these county committees of agriculture have been very responsible and conservative and they did not misappropriate funds. In both these counties there is an awareness of the difficulty of the ratepaying community to meet the current demands. These people, in their wisdom, decided not to go to their county councils for the maximum to which they were entitled by law.
Members of county committees of agriculture are responsible men and the Minister can quite safely raise the ceiling to ensure that for the year ahead no county will find itself in the position of having to curtail its services.