asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will collate and circulate with the Official Report the following information: (a) What were the terms of the Lime Subsidy (Reclamation and Drainage) Scheme which operated in conjunction with the Farm Improvements Scheme; (b) what was its scope and (c) what grants were paid under it in each year of its operation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Lime Subsidy Scheme.
As indicated in my reply of 21st instant, the information sought is contained in the Annual Reports of the Minister for Agriculture from 1941/42 to 1949/50, inclusive. I had hoped that the Deputy would not experience any undue difficulty in obtaining his requirements from that source, but this does not appear to have been the case and I propose, therefore, with your permission, a Chinn Chomhairle, to have the required information circulated in the form of a statement in the Official Report.
The statement referred to is as follows:—
(a) The Lime Subsidy (Reclamation and Drainage) Scheme provided for the payment of a subsidy towards the cost of lime or sea-sand applied to land newly reclaimed or intensively drained under the terms of the Farm Improvements Scheme. Up to the 1948/49 season, the benefits of the Scheme were confined to applicants the poor law valuation of whose agricultural land did not exceed £20. This limitation was removed in the 1948-49 season.
The subsidies, which varied from year to year, were payable in respect of purchased lime, home-burnt lime, dredged sea-sand and strand surface sea-sand. In the final season of the Scheme (1948/49) the average rates of subsidy were £1 19s. 5d. per ton of lime and 6/1 per ton of sea-sand. The maximum dressings per statute acre on which subsidies were allowed were two tons of lime, or five tons of dredged sea-sand or ten tons of strand-surface sea-sand.
(b) The scheme was confined to the congested districts and analogous areas in County Clare and North West Cavan.
|
(c) |
Year |
Total Amount of Subsidy Paid |
|
£ |
||
|
1941-42 |
8,622 |
|
|
1942-43 |
9,733 |
|
|
1943-44 |
9,516 |
|
|
1944-45 |
8,993 |
|
|
1945-46 |
6,859 |
|
|
1946-47 |
7,195 |
|
|
1947-48 |
3,908 |
|
|
1948-49 |
5,977 |
|
|
1949-50 |
6,571 |
|
|
TOTAL |
£67,374 |