asked the Minister for Lands if he proposes to increase the size of the standard viable holding as recognised by the Land Commission.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Viable Holding Size.
18.
(Cavan): Under current policy the Land Commission aim to provide family farms of 40 to 45 acres of good land or the equivalent in land of mixed quality which may be 50 to 60 acres or more. Having said that, I might say too that I already told the House that the test of viability should be the amount of land which enables a farmer to make a decent living when compared with other sections of the population. With modern farming techniques and different types of intensive farming enterprises the application of a set acreage limit may possibly tend to be less appropriate.
Under the farm modernisation scheme the development plan is based on the concept of the comparable income. Those family size development farmers who are certified to need additional land to achieve that income can have priority from the Land Commission in land becoming available under the farm retirement scheme.
A further material point is that there can be no question of acceding to excessive demands for additional land since pitching the figure too high would inevitably mean that fewer people could, in economic security, be settled on the land. It is against that set of considerations that any adjustment of the concept of a viable holding has to be tested and the consideration also that the technology available for efficient production is constantly improved. However, I am keeping the matter under review.
Would the Minister consider 45 adjusted acres a viable holding? Would it not depend on where the farm was situated and the type of farming carried on?
(Cavan): The Land Commission's policy at the moment is to provide up to 45 adjusted acres. As the Deputy knows, that might be 60 or 70 acres in one part of the country and it would be dead-on 45 acres in another part of the country. In modern times probably the best test of what is a viable farm is the type of farming in which the farmer is engaged. I accept that but I do not accept that, even with that consideration, it is possible to give an unlimited amount of land or to increase the policy size of Land Commission farms away up because to do so would reduce the number of people who could be settled on the land and that is against national policy.
Would the Minister not accept that the standard of acceptability, especially of younger farmers, is rising also and that it will be necessary in the future to contemplate the raising of this notional figure of 45 adjusted acres and, if I may anticipate a question which will not be reached today, could the Minister give any indication of whether there will be a change in the Land Commission's approach in the context of a leasing arrangement that may be made in the future?
(Cavan): I would prefer to deal with one question at a time, otherwise there will be confusion. I accept that the acceptable standard of a viable farm is increasing but the Deputy will also agree that the volume of production on farms is going up and that a farm that could carry, say, 25 or 30 cows 40 years ago is now carrying far more. I accept that a higher standard is required but what I am saying is that the same quantity of land if properly farmed and worked can produce a better standard of living than the same farm would have produced years ago. I do not accept that we can go on and on increasing the acreage from 45 to 50 and so on because to do so would be to eliminate the small moderate size farms and to reduce the number of people who could be settled on the land and I do not think that that would be in the national interest.
Has the Minister seen a report recently from the Agricultural Institute which showed that the standard size now should be 54 acres to compare with 45 acres in the sixties and also recommended that in future it should be in the region of 80 acres?
(Cavan): I have seen the remarks referred to by the Deputy but he will agree with me that if we were to accept that sort of advice and arrange our policy accordingly and if we were to get to the stage where the acceptable area of a farm in Cavan or Monaghan would be 80 acres we would strip the countryside and that I am not prepared to do.
I just asked if the Minister had seen that statement.
Question No. 19.
Is the Minister——
Question No. 19.
I protest. We have spent an hour on 17 questions and this is a very important question.
I am glad the Deputy observed that. Some Deputies cannot be pleased.