Vol. 393 No. 10
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food, having regard to the alarming reduction in funding for Teagasc and the fact that as a consequence, an adequate service cannot be provided, the way in which his Department will, in the future, provide the services that had been available through Teagasc, in order to ensure the education and training of the farming community.
44.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the reason for the decrease of 7 per cent in the allocation for Teagasc in the 1990 Book of Estimates; the impact which this will have on the services provided by Teagasc; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
55.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will ensure that the Teagasc advisory and research organisation is sufficiently funded to carry out its most important work programme.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 44 and 55 together.
As I recently announced, and subject to the approval of this House, I will be making an additional £8 million available to Teagasc this year which will eliminate the accumulated deficit of the organisation and place the organisation on a sound financial footing.
I am satisfied that the Exchequer grant of £27 million included in the 1990 Estimates for the Public Services and the other funds available to it will be sufficient to enable Teagasc to deliver a full range of services to the agriculture and food sectors in 1990.
I met the Board of Teagasc on Monday, 27 November, and we had a mutually satisfactory discussion on all aspects of Teagasc activities.
