asked the Taoiseach the number of part-time farmers in each county.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Agricultural Statistics.
1.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to circulate in the Official Report a statement giving the available information. This consists of estimates for 1975 of the numbers of farmholders in each county classified by amount of time worked on the farm.
For the information of Deputies, I would say that on a percentage basis overall 54 per cent of the farmholders worked 2,200 hours and over. Details will be given in the Official Report.
Following is the statement:
The following table gives for 1975 estimates of the number of farmholders classified by the estimated amount of time devoted to work on the farm. The information was collected as part of the 1975 Farm Structure Survey taken in respect of a sample of landholders in June 1975. The following points should be noted:—
(i) the estimates relate to farms where at least one hectare of crops and pasture (including rough grazing) was farmed,
(ii) the information is based on the farmholders' own estimate of the number of weeks worked and of the average hours worked per week during the 12 months ended June 1975.
|
County |
Estimated Time Worked on Own Farm |
Total |
|||
|
Under 1,100 hours |
1,100 and under 1,650 hours |
1,650 and under 2,200 hours |
2,200 hrs. and over |
||
|
Thousands |
|||||
|
Carlow |
0.8 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
1.4 |
2.6 |
|
Dublin |
0.7 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.9 |
2.0 |
|
Kildare |
1.6 |
0.4 |
0.5 |
2.1 |
4.6 |
|
Kilkenny |
1.1 |
0.4 |
0.5 |
3.6 |
5.6 |
|
Laois |
0.9 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
2.9 |
4.6 |
|
Longford |
0.9 |
0.4 |
0.6 |
2.4 |
4.3 |
|
Louth |
1.1 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
1.3 |
3.0 |
|
Meath |
2.1 |
0.5 |
0.9 |
3.8 |
7.3 |
|
Offaly |
1.2 |
0.4 |
0.8 |
2.8 |
5.1 |
|
Westmeath |
1.4 |
0.6 |
0.7 |
2.7 |
5.4 |
|
Wexford |
1.4 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
4.1 |
6.5 |
|
Wicklow |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
2.2 |
3.5 |
|
Clare |
1.9 |
0.8 |
1.3 |
6.8 |
10.7 |
|
Cork |
4.2 |
1.7 |
2.1 |
14.2 |
22.1 |
|
Kerry |
3.3 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
8.4 |
14.8 |
|
Limerick |
1.4 |
0.6 |
0.9 |
6.2 |
9.1 |
|
Tipperary NR |
1.1 |
0.5 |
0.8 |
3.4 |
5.8 |
|
Tipperary SR |
1.2 |
0.4 |
0.7 |
3.7 |
6.0 |
|
Waterford |
0.8 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
2.7 |
4.1 |
|
Galway |
5.6 |
2.5 |
3.1 |
10.1 |
21.3 |
|
Leitrim |
1.8 |
0.7 |
1.4 |
2.8 |
6.6 |
|
Mayo |
4.9 |
2.3 |
3.5 |
10.9 |
21.5 |
|
Roscommon |
2.2 |
1.1 |
1.7 |
5.9 |
11.0 |
|
Sligo |
1.8 |
0.7 |
1.1 |
3.9 |
7.6 |
|
Cavan |
1.8 |
1.0 |
1.2 |
5.2 |
9.2 |
|
Donegal |
6.3 |
1.8 |
2.2 |
5.2 |
15.5 |
|
Monaghan |
1.8 |
0.6 |
1.0 |
3.9 |
7.3 |
|
IRELAND |
54.0 |
20.3 |
29.5 |
123.6 |
227.3 |
When does the Minister expect to have information which would be more up to date than 1975 and to what year would he expect the up-to-date information to relate?
The next report is due in 1980—at least the results will be available then.
To what year will those results relate?
1977.
Is the Minister satisfied with the time lag of three years in the production of this information? Would he agree that this delay makes the information for less valuable than it would be if it were published promptly?
The Central Statistics Office at this stage have available the information from the 1975 agricultural enumeration and similar information will be available during 1980 from the 1977 farm structure survey. That is the only information I have at the moment.
But why the delay?
This is the normal procedure.
The Minister should know the reason.
I presume that while the Deputy was in office in 1975 he might have inquired into that in the first instance but, apart from that, I shall certainly try to ensure that the information is made available as early as possible.
2.
asked the Taoiseach if the Central Statistics Office keep an index of agricultural land prices, and if not, why.
The Central Statistics Office does not compile an index of agricultural land prices. In the light of the demands made on it for price information for the agricultural sector the CSO has given priority to the introduction of comprehensive index numbers for the prices of agricultural products and current inputs.
Would the Minister not agree that the compilation of this information would be a very easy matter in view of the fact that all such sales must be registered for stamp duty purposes and that such information could be published without any great difficulty or cost?
No; I would not agree with the Deputy. The Deputy has asked for an index of agricultural land prices and this would be quite a complex matter because, as the Deputy will appreciate, to establish national index numbers would require first, the establishment of acceptable criteria on which to base such an index: secondly, it would require a representative national sample on which to base operations. There would be the question of how many categories should be included, the question of weighting and the number within each category. This of course would mean reference to the total population. At a certain stage the work would be a good deal simpler once the soil survey and classification for use of land which is currently in progress in An Foras Talúntais would be completed. It would provide the kind of information on which such an index could be developed.
Is the Minister aware that this allegedly impossible task which he has described has already been undertaken in a small way by the Agricultural Institute and that the appropriate body to carry it to full fruition is the office for which he is responsible? Will he ask his officials to reinvestigate the matter with a view to publishing information along these lines—if not a full index, at least a partial index—as soon as possible?
Nobody has alleged that it is an impossible task but it is quite a time-consuming one and one in which the question of priorities arises. The Central Statistics Office is currently, and has been for some time under very considerable pressure particularly because of our involvement in the EEC and the kind of indices and statistics that have had to be prepared. The Deputy referred to the survey of An Foras Talúntais. Six counties have been done to date and this would hardly provide the basis for a national index. Three counties are partly completed so that, as I said initially in supplementary information, when this work has progressed further it will certainly supply the basis for a comprehensive national index.
For the Minister's information, the survey to which I am referring is not the soil survey; it is a survey of land prices.