asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will comment on the reduction of 9,000 in the number of heifers in calf contained in the June figures.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Heifers in Calf.
39.
Changes in this figure cannot be considered in isolation. What is significant is the total figure for cows, including first calf heifers, and heifers in calf. At June, 1965, this total was 1,740, 714— an increase of 138, 514 on June, 1964.
Does the Minister not agree that, in fact, this shows a falling off in the drive he initiated under the heifer scheme? That is the only way I can interpret the figures.
I think it is a very temporary fluctuation, and fluctuations in figures of that size are quite natural.
Would the Minister agree that it is a fluctuation in the wrong way?
Only in a very limited category. The fact is that over the whole situation in regard to cow and heifer numbers, there is a very satisfactory increase and we are well in sight of reaching the target in the Second Programme.
Would the Minister not agree that the new heifers he paid for last year are not now there as cows and that in fact the new heifers coming along are not in the numbers they should be?
We are very satisfactorily reaching the target set, which was to have 1,700,000 cows by 1968 so that we could have an annual cattle output of 1,500,000 by 1970. At the present moment we have 1,547,000 cows and 193,000 in calf heifers, which means that between cows and in-calf heifers, we are over the 1,700,000 already.
In my opinion, the Second Programme will need a second decade.
I know that Deputies in the Fine Gael Party are very sad that the heifer scheme has been such a fantastic success because Deputy Dillon derided and scoffed at it and said it could not succeed, but it is succeeding.