asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will indicate the number of eligible applications received to date by his Department for loans in connection with the purchase of milking machines, the number of loans in respect of which full advances were made, and the average period which elapses between the application date and the date of payment.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Loans for Milking Machines.
When an application made in accordance with the terms of the scheme referred to by the Deputy is approved by my Department, it is referred to the Agricultural Credit Corporation, Limited, who enter into a contract with the applicant for the purchase of the machine. The corporation then orders the machine on behalf of the applicant and when it has been installed to the latter's satisfaction, the corporation pays the vendor direct.
From the 1st October, 1949, when the scheme was introduced, until the 20th May, 1950, 279 applications for loans had been received by my Department and of that number 235 had been approved and referred to the corporation. The remaining cases are in course of examination. The functions of my Department in relation to an application under the scheme are usually completed in about three weeks from the date of receipt of the application.