Adjournment Debate. - An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta. – Dáil Éireann (21st Dáil) – Thursday, 22 Nov 1979

Adjournment Debate. - An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta.

Mr. Bruton

An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta—AnCOT for short —were established by this House to be responsible for advisory and educational services for agriculture. There are many decisions that need to be taken urgently in relation to agricultural advice and education but they cannot be taken because the board established by this House have not been appointed by the Minister. The necessary legislation was passed by this House in May 1979, but six months later the Minister apparently has not got around to appointing the board. Such delay is difficult to understand.

I should like to indicate some of the reasons why I believe it is important that this board be appointed and the necessary decisions taken. There is a problem at the moment that there are not sufficient places to meet the demand in agricultural colleges. Decisions must be taken about how extra places are to be provided or if that is not the solution decisions must be made on what other methods are to be devised for providing sufficient agricultural education for those in need of it. It is clear we cannot make progress in agriculture, particularly in a situation where prices are not as generous as they might otherwise be, unless our farmers are adequately trained and advised. Therefore, decisions in relation to agricultural education are very important.

There is a need also to take decisions regarding the advisory services and the promotional opportunities available. At the moment these services are very demoralised. Decisions like this can be taken only by An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta but that board have not been appointed. There is also the need to ensure that we avail of EEC aid which has been available to us for many years on a generous scale but which, unfortunately, we have not availed of to any significant degree. This aid could be used for the provision of a socio-economic advisory service which would advise farmers in relation to retirement, signing over their farms and so on. Again, such decisions can be taken only if An Chomhairle come into existence.

We have had a long delay in coming to the position we reached last May when at last a Bill was enacted into law. There have been reports for the past ten or 15 years urging the need for the reorganisation of advisory, educational and research services. The previous Minister, Deputy Clinton, had got through this House before the general election of 1977 the National Agricultural Authority Act and before the Government changed, just after their defeat in the election, he appointed a board to take up duty as the National Agricultural Authority. The present Minister came into office and, for reasons which I do not wish to debate on this occasion, decided to scrap the board and to introduce his own Bill. There was a considerable delay before the new Bill came before the House. When it eventually appeared I believe the Minister lamented the fact that it was not processed more quickly. It became law in May 1979.

At last the Minister had got his way. He had got his Bill on the Statute Book. In view of that one would have expected him to appoint a board and to have told them to get on with the job. Yet, six months later the board have not been appointed. Frankly, I do not understand how this could have happened. There are some suggestions that it is because certain people are not being offered enough of a salary. I do not know if that is true but, if it is, the Minister should say so. Whatever the obstacles, there is no excuse for a delay of six months after the necessary legislation has eventually gone through the House. There is no excuse for not appointing the board within that time and letting them get on with the job. I hope the Minister will be able, not to give us a convincing explanation, but to announce either the names of the members of the board or that he will appoint the board within a finite time, preferably in the next few days.

Minister for Agriculture (Mr. Gibbons)

I am at a loss as to why Adjournment time is made available for the extraction of the information Deputy Bruton requires. In fact, I am quite certain that it is not so required. Since I am in the House it is no harm to recall the relevant dates that marked the course of this Bill which was introduced on 23 May 1978. The Second Stage debate began on 26 October of the same year and ended on 15 November. The Committee Stage began on 21 February and ended on 4 April. During the Committee Stage there were no less than six divisions and I cannot count the innumerable Opposition filibustering, delaying speeches which we had on Second Stage also. The Report and Final Stages began and concluded on 26 April. The time span from the introduction to the passage of the Bill in this House was 11 months.

Mr. Bruton

It was the Government's fault for not finding time.

Mr. Gibbons

From the commencement of the Second Stage to the passage was seven months. The vast duration of that debate was the direct upshot of the disregard by the Opposition of the need to put this new mechanism going. As the Deputy observed, this legislation responded correctly to the recommendations of the various reports that had been made on this subject for ten or 15 years, all of which particularised in the way my Bill did, and in the way in which its predecessor did not. In other words, it ensured the separate status of the research element in agricultural matters and training and advisory service going under AnCOT as it is.

The Bill then proceeded to the Seanad where it spent from 2 to 16 May of this year. It was signed by the President on 22 May. On the question of the formation of the board, set up as it is in accordance with what I believe to be the correct procedures and in conformity with the wishes of the farming organisations and other concerns, the people who had been indicated by the organisations as being their nominees on that board were written to and the last of the replies arrived on 23 August. It is necessary to say also that consequent on the bringing in of the Bill, certain sections of AnCOT were executed on 20 July, after consultation with farming organisations and so on.

The setting up of a board of such vital importance as this is not something that should be rushed into. My Department and I have made all reasonable haste and we have ensured that that haste does not involve any element of foolhardy premature decisions. The results of such haste would be very dire and long lived. Most of the outstanding matters have been resolved by now. I should like to mention that during the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture, the Minister has a certain number of other preoccupations. That has taken an inordinate amount of the time of the Department, the Minister and the Minister of State. Despite those difficulties I hope in the next week or two to make a very exhaustive statement on the future of AnCOT.

I know there have been varying attempts to deal with this by abusive people on the general council, as late as yesterday, which we need not pay any attention to because one does not properly pay any attention to vulgar abuse. That type of pointless ballyragging has been taken up by certain Members of the Opposition. That is very unhelpful and unconstructive. While it might gratify peculiar instincts of theirs, it is by no means constructive and does not impress anybody. I strongly recommend that they desist from this type of schoolboy behaviour in the future and try to become accustomed to the fact that their party have departed from participation in government for a couple of years. It will be a long day before they ever have the sensation of being confronted with the realities and difficulties of implementing Government decisions.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 22 Nov 1979