asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries if he will consider extending the one pound subsidy to ewe lambs of the Cheviot breed.
Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers. - Ewe Lamb Subsidy.
20.
I am satisfied that it would not be in the interests of mountain sheep breeders to offer a subsidy which would encourage the sale of ewe lambs off the mountains.
Is the Minister satisfied with this scheme in its present form?
That is typical of Fine Gael. The scheme is not in operation yet and they are attacking it.
Why not?
It is the first scheme ever introduced for mountain sheep farmers and they are attacking it before it even starts to operate.
Who is responsible for the scheme? The Minister should know what he is implementing.
I set up an expert study group to investigate this matter. They recommended something which will cost about £400,000 or £500,000 a year. I accepted it immediately and put it into operation. Fine Gael are trying to ride two different horses on this question also.
What do the sheep men say?
They are all for it.
They are not all for it.
They are. Go back and talk to them.
The Minister should not talk about horses, hobby or otherwise.
When Fine Gael want to try to appear to be on the farmers' side, they get Deputy Clinton to put down a question, and when they want to appear to be on the side of the consumer against the farmers, they get Deputy Byrne to put down a question.
I will deal with this one, too.
Can we be assured that there will be no bad language today?
The Deputy is more of an expert on language, good and bad, than I am.
I heard some in this House recently——
Not from me.
From the Taoiseach, I am sorry to say.
The Minister is not responsible for his in-laws.