asked the Minister for Agriculture the number and type of surveys which have been carried out in Counties Kilkenny, Carlow and Laois for inclusion under the disadvantaged areas scheme; the results that have been obtained to date; the progress that has been made in relation to the submissions to the EEC; if the deadline for inclusion in the scheme which is to be submitted to the EEC has been extended; and if additional individual submissions will be accepted nationally for submission.
Written Answers. - Disadvantaged Areas Scheme.
457.
The current national review of the boundaries of the disadvantaged areas, now being completed in my Department, involved a detailed survey of some 60 separate areas throughout the country of which some 10 per cent were in the counties mentioned in the question. The survey involved a detailed examination of the physical, economic and demographic data in each of these areas. This review is a prelude to consideration by the Government, and later by the EEC authorities, of the case for boundary modifications in this country. A very full opportunity has already been given to local bodies and individuals to make submissions for changes and I doubt whether any further submissions at this late stage of the review would serve any useful purpose.