asked the Minister for Lands if he will consider paying £10 of the private planting grant when the plot is fenced, and the remaining £10 when the planting has been completed satisfactorily.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Private Planting Grant.
34.
The method of payment suggested by the Deputy is considered impracticable. The present method of payment (£10 per statute acre once the plantation has been satisfactorily established and £10 after five years, subject to proper maintenance in that period) is fair and reasonable and it is not proposed to alter it.
The reason I put the suggestion to the Minister through the question was that many small farmers anxious to avail of the new planting grant would scarcely be able, small as the amount may appear to the Minister, to undertake the capital outlay involved. If they had a promise that the remaining £10 would be paid when planting has been completed, the Minister could take it that the care of the plantations would be all right.
That is scarcely a question, either.
Would the Minister consider the matter, in view of that?